Education

The definition of good education can be very different for different people depending on what they expect out of it. Some people would say the purpose of education is to ensure the passage of knowledge and skills from one generation to the next generation. To some people, education is the device to make our society more productive and efficient by reducing the rate of crime and decreasing unemployment. Others would like the education system to be centered around the individuals undergoing it to make sure that they can live a happy and satisfying life. The ideal education system would find a balance between these and other requirements. The personal development aspect of education can, for the most part, be done outside of the classroom. But, providing the child with the skills necessary to become a productive member of the society as an adult can be done better as a part of formal education. The teacher who specializes in imparting knowledge of a particular subject will in most cases be more successful than the family and friends in helping the child learn the relevant skills. These skills are one of the basic requirements for living in modern society and irrespective of an individual's belief, its significance should not be ignored.

Paskowitzes were a family constituting of Dorian Paskowitz, his wife Juliette and their nine children. Dorian Paskowitz was a physician, but he stopped practicing medicine and decided to adopt an unconventional lifestyle. He started journeying on a camper van across the continent with his whole family and surfing along the way. The Paskowitz family maintained this lifestyle for nearly two and a half decades. As a result, none of the Paskowitz children underwent any formal education during their childhood. During this period most of their time was spent either on the road in the camper van or on the beaches where they surfed. Eventually, the Paskowitzes established a surf camp where they started to teach surfing. Surf wise is a documentary film depicting the life of the Paskowitzs from their journeys on the camper van to their life at the surf camp and the aftermath.

Dorian Paskowitz had very specific beliefs regarding health and education. He believed that formal education can successfully impart knowledge to children but cannot provide them with the wisdom which according to him is a lot more important and useful. According to Dorian the better method of education would be experiencing different things in life and meeting different types of people. Furthermore, he believed that formal education can actually corrupt young minds, making them chase money and other worldly pleasures. He looked down upon the modern society and its token economy and did not want his family to be a part of it. Dorian aspired to adopt a lifestyle that is much closer to that of an early man because of its freedom and simplicity. He firmly believed that a superior state of well-being could be achieved by the lifestyle he was following. Because of these beliefs, Dorian did not want a conventional life with a regular job for himself and did not want his children to attend a school and Juliette supported his decision.

Dorian and Juliette did not fulfill their parental responsibility to properly educate their children because their belief that wisdom is all that one requires to lead a productive life and that knowledge is not worth much is inherently wrong. Wisdom and knowledge are the two faces of the same coin. One leads to another and vice versa. As a popular saying goes, Life is not long enough for us to learn everything from our own mistakes. We have to learn from other's mistakes as well. Knowledge is the accumulation of other people's experiences and inferences. A person needs this knowledge to achieve wisdom. Alternatively, a truly wise person would understand the significance of knowledge in life and would actively seek it. Knowledge makes us ready to face a scenario we have not faced before. It prepares us for the unknown. It also introduces us to things that we have not yet had a chance to experience personally. A person cannot know if they would like to pursue studying a particular subject like music, dance or maths until they try it. Herein lies the importance of the knowledge that one gets from a well-rounded education. It shows a person the whole variety of disciplines, the human civilization has come up with and helps them find their calling. The Paskowitz children never underwent a well-rounded education and thus only learned what Dorian and Juliette could teach them. Knowledge also constitutes the skills one needs to be successful in today's world. Dorian did not provide his children with these skills. Because he did not value these skills, he decided that his children would not need them in later life. The failing of this decision is apparent when one of his sons decided that he wanted to become a doctor and started his formal education as an adult, he realized that it was too late for him. He realized that he could not become a doctor because it would take too long, and he needed to support himself financially. Another example of Dorian's education failing is when one of his sons helped to establish a multi-million-dollar company but did not financially benefit from it because he was not well versed in the ways of the modern world. The lack of formal education amongst the children was also one of the main reason, because of which the surf camp eventually failed. The Paskowitz children were not properly equipped to manage the camp and to understand the official processes required to run the camp.

A parent's true responsibility to their child is not just limited to passing on their beliefs and approach to life but also includes providing the child with the means to properly analyze these beliefs and the option to choose for themselves. The parent should explain the merits of their beliefs to the child but should not impose it upon them. If the parent's reasoning is sound. then the child will acquire the same beliefs over time. Dorian was an authoritarian father to some extent. His reasons for detesting the modern conventional lifestyle and formal education were communicated to his children by force rather than choice. He imposed his will on his children for the better part of their childhood and thus severely hampered their growth as individuals.

In my personal experience children grow up to be more well-rounded individuals if the parents let them think and choose for themselves rather than when the parents force their beliefs on their children. Most of my friends have religious parents and most of these parents tried to pass on their personal religious beliefs to their children by making them practice and observe various religious ceremonies and rituals. The result of this was that some of my friends became extremely religious and intolerant to all differing views and faith while others started to detest their own religion and became wary of all the religious people. Only the friends whose parents introduced the concept of religion and faith in a non-forceful manner have a healthy approach to it. Forcing a belief on a child will either make them conform or rebel and neither one of those is healthy. In Paskowitze's case, some of the children resent Dorian for how he raised them. One of the sons even wrote a song to express the resentment that he felt for his father. Even though most of the children embraced their lifestyle when they were younger, all but one wanted a more traditional lifestyle for the children of their own. 

Another area where Dorian and Juliette failed was in providing their children with a stable environment to grow up and learn in. Stability and consistency during early childhood is very important for healthy development. Although it can be boring, it gives children a sense of security and thus helps them to actually focus on learning life lessons. The Paskowitz's way of life made sure that the children never had a home. They never had any privacy and any material possessions like a computer or a television. They only stopped when they were visiting Dorian's brother or sister and that too was a very rare occurrence. Even though this life of adventure may appeal to a child's mind, it is not healthy for it. These children were always getting scratches and injuries. Their life was disorganized and there was little order to it. Navah says, "A chaotic lifestyle leads to a chaotic mind" (in Ghert-Zand) which I agree with. The result of this style of raising was that as adults most of the Paskowitz children are not very responsible and disciplined.

All things considered Dorian Paskowitz was not an ideal father. Although he had the best intentions for his children and loved them dearly, he was a bit too stubborn and single-minded. His philosophy regarding wisdom and knowledge was wrong. His definition of proper education was too narrow and as a result, he failed in properly educating his children. He assumed that all his children would want the same things out of life that he wanted, and this was the primary reason he failed.

Works Cited

Surfwise. Dir. Doug Pray. Magnolia Pictures, 2008. DVD.

Ghert-Zand, Renee. "Navah Paskowitz-Walther: The Jewish Mother of Surfing’s First Family."

The Sisterhood, 6 May 2010, Forward, https://forward.com/sisterhood/127836/navah-paskowitz-walther-the-jewish-mother-of-surf/