Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better

[TaoJones]

Poor Zac Sunderland - it's less than two months since he set the record as the youngest person to circumnavigate, a British youth is about to break that record, and now this:

* * *

SAILING

"Zac Sunderland's younger sister to try to break his sailing record

"Abby Sunderland, who will turn 16 in October, is hoping to embark on a nonstop, unassisted voyage in November after brother set record at 17.



"Abby Sunderland, sister of Zac Sunderland, is hoping to break her brother's record by becoming the youngest person to sail around the world by herself. (Laurence Sunderland / Associated Press)

"August 19, 2009

"A month after Zac Sunderland, at 17, became the youngest person to sail around the world by himself, his younger sister has announced plans to try to break that record."

* * *

To read the entire article, go to:

Zac Sunderland's younger sister to try to break his sailing record -- latimes.com

TaoJones

[slomotion]

I believe there is also an Australian 15/16 year old girl who is going to make an attempt.

When I was 13 I went fishing in a small boat with my grandfather and my little sister: Grampa caught 7 flounder, my SEVEN YEAR OLD SISTER caught 4, I caught an eel.

[imagine2frolic]

slomotion,

I feel your pain!.........i2f

[Fishman_Tx]

That resembles my wife. Probably why we don't fish with her anymore. She gets me to bait the hook, she throws out the line and then the pole into the bottom of the boat. Puts on her suntan lotion and lays out on the bow.....until her pole nearly exits the boat at which time she reels in a 31" Speckled Trout or a Redfish the size of your leg. No one else gets a bite. sheesh....

[David M]

I know I sound like a cynic who otherwise should be cheer leading these childhood attempts at breaking records for glory, in a voyage that is inherently dangerous. How young will these children get before the first tragedy strikes?

You can bet there will be a very angry public that blames the parents for allowing their child to try something like this at such a young age. Compound that with the feelings of guilt, loss and grief that the parents already have.

Until a child turns 18, the parents really are responsible for what happens to them. Has anyone really considered what could happen when a parent allows a child to sail around the world and something really bad happens? One thing is for sure, the press and all the sleazy television shows will have a field day with this that makes Michael Jackson's death look like nothing. I certainly would not want to be one of the parents who has to face the media satellite trucks and the angry mobs camped out in front of their house.

From a legal standpoint, I could very well imagine some out of control government child welfare agency going after the parents for child neglect.

So why are these record attempts a big deal?...because of the danger. Is it right to subject a child to such danger? ...irrespective of whether or not the child wants to do this.

Do we put our kids in seat belts whether or not they want to be strapped up? Why? ...because children rarely know what is best for them.

I'm not saying don't do this, I just don't think many people are thinking through all the potential negative consequences....all for a little bit of short lived glory, until a younger child try's this.

Is the short lived glory really worth it?

[anjou]

Its called beginners luck, or maybe proves the saying, dont try too hard. maybe I could hire some kids to crew a boat back to UK cos they seem to be taking over the world. Good luck to them all, its nice to see kids having a go and showing how responsible they can be.

[imagine2frolic]

There are some 45 yr old people who have the capacity of a 2 year old. While some very young adults are truly adults in their wisdom of decisions. I would think you would have to go case by case. Exactly where do you draw the line in the sand? That's a tough answer. Obviously for Zac it was right, because he accomplished it!......i2f

[David M]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

There are some 45 yr old people who have the capacity of a 2 year old. While some very young adults are truly adults in their wisdom of decisions. I would think you would have to go case by case. Exactly where do you draw the line in the sand? That's a tough answer. Obviously for Zac it was right, because he accomplished it!......i2f

Zac survived. So that makes it okay to put more children at risk? What if Zac had died? Would it still be okay with the world to risk more children?..probably not. We are not sending monkeys in to space here where the consequences are minimal if death occurs. Or perhaps that is how some people see it?...just keep sending monkeys until one of them dies. Lets see how low we can get the circumnavigation age down to until one dies...like some unethical, twisted science experiment that uses children instead of lab rats.

Not all of us accept this as the reason for doing this but this is effectively what is happening here. Just keep sending them younger and younger until tragedy strikes....then we stop.

I think we value glory over our own lives all too often. That's fine for adults who we send to the Moon or for the first man to break the sound barrier. But we are talking children now, which is a whole different thing than an adult, adults who have the mental and chronological maturity and therefore the right to accept responsibility for their own actions. Children do not yet posses the wisdom to accept those rights.

[Endojoe]

It should be noted that a little earlier in the generation which sent men to the moon and broke the sound barrier, there were many 15 and 16 year olds that lied about their age and went off to fight a world war. My grandfather was one of them, turned 16 while at Parris Island in 1942 and was carrying a rifle from island to island in the Pacific a few months later.

[David M]

As you said, they had to lie to do it. And why did they have to lie? Because society as a whole did not want children doing this.

[Talbot]

One of my Great Uncles joined up for the 1st World War at age 14, after his first year he transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service, and in 1918 after 2 years of war , when the war ended, he was discharged as underage!

[Endojoe]

Right....and "society" is better equipped than parents to determine how children should be raised?

[David M]

That's not what I was saying. That's your extrapolation of what I said.

Society sometimes must set common standards that everyone must follow and sometimes they must be a compromise for waht is best if you were to pick any individual. For example, in this case, we must pick an age at which a person becomes an adult and is therefore given the rights and responsibilities of making their own choices.

[imagine2frolic]

David,

What I typed was case by case. I did not draw a line in the sand, nor did I suggest it was okay. I typed what I typed for the reasons mentioned. I am not capable of approving, or disapproving who does, and does not go. I don't know any of them. How can I be the judge of right, or wrong here?

I completely understand your concern, and for the most most part I do agree. In life there are many exceptions to the rule, and I do believe with Zac's history he was one of them, and he has proven that. I do find it a wee bit odd that now the younger sister may be in the race for the title. Once again I do not know anything of her, so I can't make that decision.

The young Australian girl whose boat is pink. Has her certifications in place, and also like Zac seems capable. Once again it is not me making the decision. It is the child, and parents.

I had told a couple of 45 yr old men not to go sailing on a rather benign day. They went, and one came back with a crushed hand. Am I to blame for not chaining the boat to the dock? I am no one's keeper. Not an adult's, or of these children leaving.

Possibly you should be writing these parents with your concern. They are the decision makers. I simply typed I do not know where to draw the line in the sand. I gave approval to no one. I typed case by case........i2f

[anjou]

In the Land of the free, you value your individual rights to do many things and defend them to the death. Some people die as a consequence. In the UK, our right to carry side arms has been removed yet there are now more guns in criminal hands. We have to wear a crash hat on a motorbike, and safety belts in cars yet we still have deaths. Kids cant smoke or drink till 16 and 18, but we have hundreds of thousands who do illegaly. Not to mention the underage sex and pregnancy. Preventing people from doing things doesnt make life safer