Letter to the Editor: In Defense of Doodling in School

Jul 17, 2018 by Susan Rosenbluth

Many people and especially teachers see doodling as a distraction from learning or, at the very least, as an indication that a student is not paying attention. However, in my experience and that of other avid doodlers, nothing is further from the truth.

All students learn differently. For people like me, looking up at teachers while they lecture makes it hard to focus on what they are saying. When I hear a teacher speak, no matter how interesting the topic may be, I feel the need to do something with my hands to keep myself from drifting off into a cloud of my own daydreams. If I am not actively taking notes, I need to make little scribbles, pictures, or shapes so that my ears remain open and my hands stimulated.

Now, it is true that I am an artist, and, perhaps, it is my love of drawing that prompts me to make quick sketches of faces or cartoons of Mickey Mouse during class. However, I know many other students who do not pursue art as a hobby, but who also doodle as much as I do. I, therefore, conclude that some students simply need to doodle because that is how they learn.

Not everyone can simply sit, look at, and listen to teachers while they speak. While some of us doodle, others feel compelled to twirl a pencil between their fingers, tap their feet, or fidget in some other way.

Unfortunately, too many of my teachers have interpreted my doodling to mean I find them boring. Some have even been insulted. When I have defended myself, explaining to them that doodling actually helps me pay attention, they have not believed me. When they catch me doodling, they tell me to look up and “listen.” It bothers me that they find my doodling insulting, and I wish they would understand that when I stop drawing, I have much more trouble paying attention and, as a result, remember far less of the material they are addressing.

I wish these teachers would understand that while some students can focus and learn in the more traditional way, i.e. sitting up straight, eyes trained on the teacher, others, like me, just can’t do this.

Interestingly, whenever I manage to keep my eyes on the teacher while simultaneously doodling, no teacher has ever complained. The only one who suffers from this arrangement is me. For scribbling to work for me, for it to enable me to be aware of what the teacher is saying, I need consciously to pay attention as well to what I am drawing. However, when teachers see me spending long periods of time looking down at my notebook, they know I am doodling and assume I am bored.

Fortunately for me, some of my teachers have realized that this is the way I learn. They know I pay attention because I often raise my hand to participate in class even when I am actively doodling. Afterwards, when the class is finished and my doodles are put away, I find I remember what happened in class. I find my notes are much better than when I try to pay attention the way teachers usually prefer.

It turns out that those of us who find sketching in a notebook a help when it comes to remembering what the teacher taught and what was discussed are not alone. In a recent study by psychologist Jackie Andrade, 40 people were asked to monitor a two-and-a-half-minute, long-winded voice-mail message. Half the group was asked to doodle while they listened while the other half just “paid attention.” Neither group knew that their memory would be tested, but those who doodled remembered 29 percent more than those who did not.

A report posted on Health.Harvard.edu notes that “spontaneous drawings may…relieve psychological distress, making it easier to attend to things.”

“With this greater sense of self and meaning, we may be able to feel more relaxed and concentrate more,” the article says, adding that “it seems then that if you’re struggling to concentrate, find yourself stuck or feeling ‘incomplete,’ a time-limited doodle expedition could be just the thing you are looking for. It will likely activate your brain’s ‘focus’ circuits, give your ‘focus’ circuits a break, and allow you to more creatively and tirelessly solve a problem at hand.”

How about that! Not only is doodling helpful with memory, it is also a stress-reliever that can help give your brain a rest.

Students work very hard in school, and any sort of mental break, especially if it doesn’t interrupt learning, is important. Hopefully, all of us can recognize that doodling is not a sign of inattentiveness or boredom. Rather, it is a way to stay more focused leading to greater retention of information.

Keren Farajun

Fair Lawn, NJ