I agree with this and another one I would like to add is what DD's 3rd grade teacher said when she told me DD had behaviour issues because she finished her work early and then tried to talk to other kids which distracted them from completing their work (which is a serious issue, I am not minimizing it at all). I asked her if she could give DD any enrichment work to keep her busy when she finishes the required work and the teacher said, no, her problem is that she needs to learn self control. Yes, agreed to some small extent, she needs to learn to not talk when it is not the appropriate time for talking but she is BORED OUT OF HER SKULL! She just got poor behavior marks for the entire year.
We have had the opposite problem... our DD has also been bored out of her skull, but exerted so much self-control during the day that she got great behavior marks, everyone said she was doing just fine in school, and then she'd get home and detonate. The stress and emotional damage this was causing her each day was phenomenal. It was largely the reason why we kept yanking her out and homeschooling after each of the school's previous failed plans.
So this year, we're actively encouraging our DD to let off steam in school with a little misbehavior. We told her that any disciplinary problems in the classroom are between her and the teacher, and that unless her behavior escalates to the point where I get a call at work, we don't care. I've even shared how most of my elementary school report cards included comments about talking too much and disturbing others. My mom barely batted an eyelash at those comments, too... she was just happy I was getting such good grades.
DD now reports she's sitting at a table that frequently gets in trouble for talking and giggling during class, and I'm a proud papa for it.
As for impact on the other kids at her table, knowing her, I'm sure she's helping them learn at least as often as she's being random and goofy, so it's all good.
