>>>>>>>>>http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/10/teen-sailor-missing-at-sea/?hpt=T2
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>This is no surprise to me at all - I sort of figured this was going to happen to her. Not sure how I feel about the parents letting her do it either.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>The parents helping/pushing her to do it.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>If the parents weren't behind it, she wouldn't have more than a piece of scrap wood for a boat.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>They may still get a reality TV show out of it - just w/o the daughter (maybe they can search for her - what a plot!).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Well I guess my question was more along the lines of how responsible is it for parents to allow a 16 year old girl to attempt to sail a boat solo around the world? If the parents weren't behind it - then ya she wouldn't have the resources (ie, the boat) to attempt it. Then I suppose there is always the possibility that seeing how they are PARENTS that they could actually say 'no' and not allow her to do it.
>>>>>>>I admit some people are thrill seekers & I find nothing wrong with that - but coooome on - if she wants to try something like that & you think she has the skills to do it - then fine - send her with some adults along with her - not by herself...duuuh!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>16 year olds aren't all the same. There's no magic point at which you suddenly can do something like that.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>If she felt she was up to it and her parents agreed then I see no problem.
>>>>>
>>>>>I suppose I see your point....16 is a lot different than 12....but then again look at what's happened - she's lost and probably dead - so perhaps she wasn't really up to it. And how much skills and experience sailing can a 16 year old have to begin with? Plus she IS just 16 - how can she even really KNOW if she's "up for it"?? I dunno I still question the wisdom of the parents thinking in all this.
>>>>
>>>>We home educated our children and I know from that time that 16 year old come in all shapes and sizes, some are amazingly competent and some can hardly cross the road without getting run over. She may be lost and may be dead but it may have nothing to do with her age.
>>>
>>>It does because her parents are legally responsible for her.
>>
>>Legally, yes. In terms of her ability to do it, no.
>
>But as far as the ALLOWING her to do it - that's up to the parents. Most adults in the USA don't let their 16year old daughter stay out at night past midnight - let alone sail a boat around the world.

For most 16 year olds it would never be an issue. Taking this story at its word, I believe both she and her parents thought she was capable of doing it.

I don't really know what "most adults" do. 16 is the new early 20s from what I can see. Maybe 14 or 15. Due to the internet, social networks, smart phones, and other technical possibilities, this generation is growing up wired and therefore exposed to everything from a young age. They are plugged in, possibly addicted to constant flow of information, fundamentally different from our memories of growing up. That needs to be taken into account.