I was just reading A Parent's Guide to Gifted Children, which I read first a couple years ago but am now reading with fresh eyes, and they talk about how this topic -- kids having to learn to deal with boredom -- can lead to underachievement. In essence, it says that we ask gifted kids to curb their desire to learn new things, to wait until next semester or next year to learn something with the class, to enjoy being kids, to not get ahead of their class, and to just fit in. And then, when middle school and high school rolls around and the kids are doing their darndest to fit in with their classmates and are not "living up to their potential" and are just following their peers, we criticize them for their underachievement. So, reward for underachievement when they're young and then criticize for underachievement a few years later. Makes no sense!
I agree that, to a degree, we all need to learn to deal with situations where all our needs are not being met. It's unreasonable to expect to be mentally or physically challenged all the time. But I think it's a matter of ratios. The scales of any situation should tip towards challenging or entertaining enough of the time to make it fulfilling and worthwhile. The benefits have to outweigh the costs. Of course, the ratio of costs to benefits would depend on the person. On personality, values, age, goals, attention span, etc. If you're asking a gifted child to wait for his class to catch up with him every once in a while, then it may be good for the child to learn other ways to entertain himself or learn something while he waits. But if you're asking for a child to wait for his class to catch up the majority of the time, and if you're restricting him from finding other ways to entertain himself or learn something, then I think you have big problems.
