I’m not sure I’m understanding what the problem is? People climb mountains, explore, fly planes, sail boats around the world, become test flights, go into space. Chances are taken - individuals who have freedom can make these choices - slaves cannot. A generation ago, 16 years old was old enough to lie about your age and join the military - to take your chances to fight for your country. I have not heard this girl complain about anything - she is chasing her dream, willing to pay the price. Isn’t that what individual freedom is all about? Don’t understand the backlash on Free Republic?
I really think all the arguments about freedom, such as yours, are equating minors with adults. There is a difference.
As you posted, some 16 year olds LIED to get into the military.
First of all they had to lie.
Second of all you think that was a good thing?
How young do you want soldiers to be?
I think 18 is the legal consensus in this country, and I’m comfortable. I don’t want the “freedom” to have 16 year olds or for that matter 10 year olds in the military.
And if it’s “freedom” to send your kid out on the open ocean for months all by herself -
why not a 15? 14? 13? 12? 11? At what age would you say: “Those parents are wrong?”
It is not about freedom, in my opinion, when you are talking about minors.
I agree completely. I am proud of this young lady. If you read her blog, you will see that she is brave, intelligent, articulate and quite motivated. Some of the nasty comments on FR make me ashamed. She is the type of girl that we should be encouraging, not defaming.
http://soloround.blogspot.com/
It’s disgusting. And more than a little disappointing.
There does seem to be a lot of anger directed her way. She’s not a child, she’s 16. In other era’s she would be considered an adult - possibly married and raising kids already. She made the choice’s for her life, took her own risks, and in the end fell short of her goal. She should be celebrated, not insulted.
I agree. A lot of the comments on here disgust me.
It's amazing how many snide, jealous opininions there are here. Adventurous spririts used to define what made our country great, but it appears that bitterness and pettiness now rule the day.
Now you see all of these people wanting the government to step in, wanting to severely restrict the liberties of this family to make its own decisions and deriding this girl and her family by coming up with their own projected reasons for this attempt to sail around the world.
So many people have slipped into the nanny-state stance and don't even realize it.
“Don’t understand the backlash on Free Republic?”
The forums generally result in a “diversity” (don’t you just hate that word) of opinions. I generally agree with your remarks. Her handling of the boat under severely adverse conditions certainly exudes competence and bravery well beyond her years. Other teens have embarked on similar attempts (mountain climbing, etc.). Most criticism arises when there is a failure to succeed that makes a pretty girl get national/international headlines.
Paid and unpaid rescuers frequently risk their lives to save others - ie hikers, forest fires, shark attacks, etc. so criticizing for that is dubious; the captain of the rescue vessel certainly knew the risks.
All of that being said, the real problem was apparently advertiser control related to the poor choice of departure times. That’s when the parents should have stepped in. Most parents love their children dearly and want them to be happy and successful. All parents have made erroneous decisions regarding the best interests of their children at one time or another. Some on here are far too quick to judge without looking at the whole picture.