{"id":246,"date":"2012-10-15T04:24:04","date_gmt":"2012-10-15T08:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/?p=246"},"modified":"2015-07-12T14:10:49","modified_gmt":"2015-07-12T18:10:49","slug":"boats-are-teachers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/boats-are-teachers\/","title":{"rendered":"Boats Are Teachers"},"content":{"rendered":"

First published in several Maryland newspapers, 3\/10\/89 \u0004\u000e \u0004\u000e \u0004\u000e \u0004\u000e \u0004\u000e \u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

Boats are teachers<\/strong> \u0004\u000e\u0003<\/span><\/p>\n

by \u0004\u000e\bTom Dove<\/span><\/p>\n

A recent Associated Press story told how Sweden uses boating \u0004\u001cas part of its prison furlough system. For about 20 years, the \u0004\u001cSwedish prison system has maintained a vacation camp at \u0004\u001cGruvberget, a former logging camp 125 miles north of Stockholm \u0004\u001cwhere convicts nearing parole can spend time with their families \u0004\u001cskiing, hiking and boating. The program has been successful in \u0004\u001ceasing social re-entry for felons and no prisoner has ever tried to \u0004\u001c\u0017escape from Gruvberget.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

It is unlikely that such a system will become popular in this \u0004\u001ccountry, especially with the furor over furlough now in the news, \u0004\u001cbut it illustrates how boats may be used to teach social values. \u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

Americans have realized that for a long time. \u0004\u001cThe Outward Bound program is one fine example of the \u0004\u001cteaching value of boats. In its coastal program in New England, \u0004\u001cOutward Bound uses rowing whaleboats to teach people self-sufficiency, teamwork and decision-making.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other groups sponsor \u0004\u001ctrips on skipjacks and buy boats to teach ecology and marine \u0004\u001cbiology. Aboard traditional craft, young people get a chance to \u0004\u001cleave walled classrooms and experience the Bay firsthand.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

Intercollegiate sailing programs teach all the values touted for \u0004\u001csports in a clean, healthy environment and provide introduction to \u0004\u001ca lifetime sport for their participants. Sailors need not be seven \u0004\u001cfeet tall or musclebound to compete successfully in dinghy racing as \u0004\u001cthey must be to join the semi-professional basketball and football \u0004\u001c\u001fteams common in colleges today.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

The Naval Academy recognizes the importance of sailing in a \u0004\u001cmidshipman’s course of study. Through its Sailing Squadron, mids \u0004\u001csail in coastal and ocean races to learn seamanship, weather, \u0004\u001cnavigation and teamwork better than through any other medium.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

The Coast Guard Academy goes even farther with its tall \u0004\u001cship, EAGLE. This beautiful vessel voyages around the world with \u0004\u001cits cadets and provides valuable lessons in international goodwill as \u0004\u001c\u0015well as shiphandling.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

Several sailing vessels are used by nonprofit groups in this \u0004\u001ccountry for rehabilitation of juvenile offenders and such programs \u0004\u001chave an enviable record of success.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

On the family level, a boat may teach your kids more than \u0005\u001cany other possession. Even a rowboat or canoe is a powerful tool \u0004\u001c\u000efor education.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

A common complaint today is that children are given too \u0004\u001cmuch; they are spoiled. Judicious use of a small boat can unspoil a \u0004\u001c\u000echild rapidly.\u0004\u001c In a little boat a child learns not to fool with Mother Nature. \u0004\u001cIf the child rows or paddles incorrectly, the laws of physics respond \u0004\u001cimmediately and crying or fussing will have no effect.\u00a0A sailing \u0004\u001cdinghy adds the challenge of harnessing natural forces to go in the \u0004\u001c\u0012right direction. \u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

A small boat gives a young person independence and self-\u0004\u001csufficiency and it teaches how those two things are interrelated. \u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

As your child grows, you can ease your restrictions on his or her \u0004\u001ctravel and watch judgment mature. \u0004\u001cA boat also gives you, the parent, useful disciplinary leverage \u0004\u001cover your child as you can punish misbehavior effectively by \u0004\u001c\u001crestricting use of the boat.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

All of this has been common knowledge for years among \u0004\u001cwealthy families who needed to teach their heirs the balance \u0004\u001cbetween money and deeper social values. The little sailboat has \u0004\u001calways been much more than a rich kid’s toy.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

In our affluent society, the ultimate teaching machine may \u0004\u001cnot be a computer, but a small boat.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u0004\u001c — The End —<\/span><\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First published in several Maryland newspapers, 3\/10\/89 \u0004\u000e \u0004\u000e \u0004\u000e \u0004\u000e \u0004\u000e \u0004\u000e Boats are teachers \u0004\u000e\u0003 by \u0004\u000e\bTom Dove A recent Associated Press story told how Sweden uses boating \u0004\u001cas part of its prison furlough system. For about 20 years, the \u0004\u001cSwedish prison system has maintained a vacation camp at \u0004\u001cGruvberget, a former logging Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":633,"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246\/revisions\/633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}