13-year old girl wants to sail around the world...alone

[papaver]

http://www.theoceans.net/news.php?id=18593

Would you let your 13 year old daughter do this? I wouldn't.

[Tuckervill]

I would.

Karen, daughterless

[Tuckervill]

I just read the article and the only thing standing in her way are the Dutch authorities...who think she won't be learning enough. Sheesh. Any 13 year-old who is savvy enough to sail around the world on her own is probably better educated than 90% of American 13 year olds. And I don't mean book learnin'.

Karen, still daughterless and now disgusted

[papaver]

I just read the article and the only thing standing in her way are the Dutch authorities...who think she won't be learning enough. Sheesh. Any 13 year-old who is savvy enough to sail around the world on her own is probably better educated than 90% of American 13 year olds. And I don't mean book learnin'.

Karen, still daughterless and now disgusted

yeah well... she is only 13 years old. The government uses the 'excuse' of school to protect her from herself.

What will she do when she encounters pirates? When she has heavy storms... the only real open sea experience she has is crossing the canal, that's not the same thing as an ocean. You can hardly get 4 hours sleep every night (a kid her age needs at least 10 hours per day). She is just a kid you know.

[Biciclista]

Pirates wouldn't bother her, she doesn't have anything they want.
I think you have a point, Papaver, she should cross the mediterranean first, and see what THAT's like before she tries the open seas.

[sfa]

Well, I wouldn't let MY 13 year old daughter do this, but my daughter (currently just 10) seems to have the judgment and planning skills of a, um, a thing with no judgment or planning skills. I was going to say "squirrel" but realized that they have pretty good planning skills. She's just scattered, can't focus on any one thing for more than 30 minutes, and has never shown the persistence it takes to really master a skill of any sort. So I can't imagine her, in three years, having what it would take in the way of skills, inner resources, strength and determination to take on a task like that.

That said, I wouldn't be against the idea in general if the 13 year old in question DID have what it would take to make a journey like this. The article said that two 17 year old boys are finishing up the journey, and they started at age 16. IME 13 year old girls and 16 year old boys are roughly at the same point in development, and I'd imagine that any kid whose parents would let them do something like this is already significantly more mature than most. I don't think a thing like schooling should be a consideration. Yes, she wouldn't be attending school, but someone out on a boat in an ocean these days is able to communicate pretty well with people on shore, so I'm pretty sure she could keep up with her parents overseeing her education from a distance. And even if she couldn't, frankly, missing a year or so of school isn't the end of the world--she could make up the year when she got back.

And about the pirates? How is being five years older or ten or 30 any more of a benefit if you're sailing solo anyway? You're going to be completely vulnerable to them on your own no matter what your age and avoiding them would largely be a matter of luck.

Sarah

[papaver]

Maybe mentally the 16 year old boy and the 13 year old girl are the same, but physically? I don't see her repairing a sail or a mast in the middle of a storm.


I wouldn't let her go for two years, a kid that age goes through huge changes mentally and physically. Heck, she doesn't even know what she wants in six months time. If she was 15-16 that would be different. But then she wouldn't break the record...

[lph]

She is probably an excellent sailor, and probably can cope with most expected equipment failures. I don't know that much about sailing, but I didn't think sheer brawn made that much of a difference. She could be as strong and capable as a petite adult woman.

But - and I say this as a mother of a 12 yr old boy, not girl - I really cannot see any 13-yr. old having the imagination, and resourcefulness, and the understanding of her own limitations, and the ability to judge other peoples intentions - to safely handle many other, unexpected situations. When I was 13 I was Superwoman. Nobody could tell me what I could or couldn't do, because I could do everything. I wildly overestimated my own abilities, and conveniently ignored any results to the contrary. Isn't this why kids aren't allowed to vote, or marry, or hold jobs?

[witeowl]

Pirates wouldn't bother her, she doesn't have anything they want.

I don't quite know that I agree with that...

[witeowl]

But - and I say this as a mother of a 12 yr old boy, not girl - I really cannot see any 13-yr. old having the imagination, and resourcefulness, and the understanding of her own limitations, and the ability to judge other peoples intentions - to safely handle many other, unexpected situations. When I was 13 I was Superwoman. Nobody could tell me what I could or couldn't do, because I could do everything. I wildly overestimated my own abilities, and conveniently ignored any results to the contrary. Isn't this why kids aren't allowed to vote, or marry, or hold jobs?

Well put. I teach in middle school and have the pleasure of working with some amazingly gifted (in many ways) students. I wouldn't want any of them to go on an extended journey like this alone. There are too many variables, and a 13 year old simply cannot reason through all the risks.

I'd say that this situation is analogous to "informed consent" in the medical world and how a minor is considered to be, simply, not capable of giving such. Thus, it falls on the parents shoulders, and I don't believe that parents should allow their child to take such extraordinary risks.

[Biciclista]

But - and I say this as a mother of a 12 yr old boy, not girl - I really cannot see any 13-yr. old having the imagination, and resourcefulness, and the understanding of her own limitations, and the ability to judge other peoples intentions - to safely handle many other, unexpected situations. When I was 13 I was Superwoman. Nobody could tell me what I could or couldn't do, because I could do everything. I wildly overestimated my own abilities, and conveniently ignored any results to the contrary. Isn't this why kids aren't allowed to vote, or marry, or hold jobs?

Yes, I agree with you completely here. I can't imagine that She can imagine just how long a year ALONE would be!

[papaver]

Yes, I agree with you completely here. I can't imagine that She can imagine just how long a year ALONE would be!

It's TWO years.

[papaver]

Pirates wouldn't bother her, she doesn't have anything they want.

My little niece works for a center that gives shelter to young girls that are victims of sex/people traffickers. Believe me, a 13 year old blond virgin, is excellent merchandise.

[maillotpois]

I have a 13 year old daughter. She's capable, smart and independent. She is pretty well organized, makes plans for the future and has somewhat recently acquired a level of empathy I never thought she would have (which I am really happy about because that was a big gap for a while there). We give her a lot of freedom and independence because she's earned it.

There is NFW I would let her do something like this.

[Eden]

Pirates wouldn't bother her, she doesn't have anything they want.

ummmm she's a 13 year old girl - just being one she is something they very much likely want...... I think it would be *very* bad if she encountered men of that type alone.