The Essentials of Living Aboard a Boat by Mark Nicholas

Author:Mark Nicholas [Nicholas, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: non-fiction
ISBN: 0939837668
Publisher: Paradise Cay Publications, Inc.
Published: 2005-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

Children

Liveaboard children, adopting their family’s lifestyle and limitations, are impressive. Kids adapt very quickly, and to me, this has always been a beautiful thing.

Children require certain things: a safe place to live, space to play and learn, adequate supervision, and a good education. Liveaboards who have home marinas often send their children to the local public school or a private school, just as landlubbing families do.

Parents should understand the general perception that bringing a child onto a boat is fundamentally dangerous. In addition, family and friends may cause more stress and volatility. This is often magnified if (as is common with liveaboard families, particularly cruising families) the child is home-schooled.

The issue here really is the unknown. When I first decided to live aboard, two people were particularly worried about me—my parents. They knew, however, that their slightly eccentric son was going to be okay. At least I think they did. Years of experience had trained them to accept that I don’t always take the easy or most traditional path in life. Now imagine two sets of parents (and if there are kids, grandparents) worried to death about the safety and well-being of their floating family and the innocent and helpless young ones. Most people don’t understand boats or living aboard, and certainly not cruising or home-schooling. More people than just the new liveaboards will be suffering culture shock.

A second issue that parents report involves isolation. While there are many other liveaboard children, finding them might be a challenge. Again, particularly for those cruising families, the children spend quite a bit of time growing up without companions. Depending on age, home-schooled children might miss the school dances and proms, sports and sporting events, and traditional interaction with classmates (the good kids and the bad kids).

The age of the child matters when it comes to adapting to the lifestyle. It is generally believed that the younger the child, the better. As infants, children will adjust to life aboard as if it is their natural environment, growing into the lifestyle, understanding the safety issues and requirements. Slightly older children are a bit more of a challenge, having already been presented with open spaces for playing, streets with lots of kids, and notions of privacy. Imagine living with a two-year-old child in a small, inescapable box. It is rare to find those families that have moved aboard with their teenage children. Teenagers have already built their own social circles and networks; they are dating and going out and often want to maintain a physical and emotional distance from their parents. On land or at sea, teens are the biggest challenge.

At the same time, parents of teenagers who have grown up aboard report that they are generally impressive people. Having avoided many of the bad elements of society, having had close supervision and responsibilities, they are reported to be very bright, polite, and helpful. Parents of children who are home-schooled also report that their children are able to become highly educated because of the one-on-one tutelage.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.