kids in boats

[DavidF]

Who said kids today aren't ambitious? Another adolescent set off to become the youngest around the world.
http://abbysunderland.com/
I'm not going to bash her. I hope she finds a safe return.

[OconeePirate]

Are there any boys attempting to do this? Does the fact that much of modern society is still somewhat sexist have girls pushing to prove that they can do something more extreme than the guys? Or is this just crazed '60s leftover parents pushing their kids farther than they should?

I'm not knocking her or the other chick in any way though. I wish them both the best of luck and hope they both succeed. I'd love to have had something like that on my resume already before I was old enough to drive.

[boatbuddha]

Sadly I think this is driven my the obsession with records and celebrity more than anything else. I have no problem with a responsible kid sailing around the world as long as it's motivated by a love a sailing and not some misguided attempt to become the latest record holding celebrity.

[DavidF]

It takes but a moment to die. When I was 12 I spent hours out in the lake sailing alone. The harder the wind, the more I needed to be out there. Mom and dad were drinking on the dock, completely out of sight. I wasn't required to wear a pfd. I learned to take care of myself and I was very lucky. My parents were most certainly negligent and I remind them of it every Christmas. And my experience was not unique.

Things, however, have changed. Today I would never think of letting let my 13-year-old boy play with guns or chainsaws or boats unsupervised, as I was allowed to do. I'll compare notes with my son when he has kids of his own to see who raised the most complete human being.

[DavidF]

Why?
Because we have the type of relationship where remind each other of how hard it is to get along and to remember that at certain times of the year we forget in order to move on.

The point, though, is that a child develops a sense of independence through the deliberate efforts of the parents to not interfere, whist creating an environment where success and failure and can be experienced without catastrophe.

Both Jessica and Abigail are doing something extremely dangerous but I suspect the parents have done everything imaginable to provide their children with the tools and the wherewithall to cope with what will inevitably come to pass.

[OconeePirate]

Things, however, have changed. Today I would never think of letting let my 13-year-old boy play with guns or chainsaws or boats unsupervised, as I was allowed to do. I'll compare notes with my son when he has kids of his own to see who raised the most complete human being.

I sometimes worry about this.... I don't give my 10 year old near the freedom that my parents gave me. I'm not sure why I still have all my limbs and both my eyes, as well as any amount of sanity. I'm sure that by today's standards my parents were quite negligent. We do what we think is best though.