Because the climate warms, extra children are getting on the water throughout their summer time faculty break. We usually share this excerpt by Chris Caswell, initially printed in Sailing Magazine, to remind the adults concerning the significance of enjoyable:
I care about at this time’s children, who appear to be residing in a world populated by helicopter mother and father and a crusing life-style greatest described as a “trophy tradition.” Successful is all the things.
I used to be at a yacht membership not too long ago, watching the junior crusing program with coaches in chase boats yelling on the children going by drills. It had began earlier than I arrived and was going after I left, and I used to be saddened by the sheer monotony of it.
I assumed again to studying to sail on California’s Alamitos Bay in a neighborhood program the place the essence of the summer time crusing program was to have enjoyable. There have been blackboard talks about each crusing and racing methods, however then we had been turned free in our 8-footers to go have enjoyable.
Enjoyable meant water fights or piling a bunch of children in your boat to go to a sandbar or simply crusing companionably with others “going nowhere and doing nothing.”
Whereas the youngsters I noticed not too long ago may bang off excellent roll tacks, there wasn’t a lot pleasure. There have been no peals of laughter, no shouts to associates, no splashing. Simply drill, drill, drill.
Once I look again on the now-grown children from that summer time crusing program so a few years in the past, the overwhelming majority of them are nonetheless crusing. Like me, some went on to a lifetime of amassing trophies, whereas others selected simply to sail and cruise. However crusing caught to us.
Successful just isn’t a nasty factor and, in actual fact, children prefer to win. However when successful turns into extra necessary than being out enjoying, it sends the fallacious message. Somewhat than forcing your children right into a program to win trophies and end first, maybe it’s best to encourage them to have enjoyable and make associates.
And splash some water.
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