But Mom, he got to sail around the world!

1. It's false.

2. It's simplistic.

3. It's paternalistic.

4. It's a perfect demonstration of how someone without any knowledge of the child or the specific situation will try to substitute his judgment for someone's with that specific knowledge.

5. It's the same type of "earth is flat" and "human flight is not possible" mentality that holds our society back. As for the "they should be arrested" part, it's not enough for the ignorant to live their lives according to their own values, they think they must impose their ignorant values on the knowledgeable and dictate how they should live.

 

Well said.

 

We call these laws where I live.

So you want an 11-year-old kid behind the wheel of a car if their parents think they are ready?

What about a third grader drinking whisky?

How about that sweet looking seventh grader up the street? Her parents think she is ready for dating and marriage.

 

Do you hurt yourself when you strain so hard for credibility, yet still miss it by a mile?

 

≠

 

Martial Law's in effect on Mars today, eh?

NO LAWS WERE BROKEN by the Sunderlands on Earth.

 

Excellent story on this very subject -- kid adventurers -- in last month's "Outside" magazine. It's centered around the kid who climbed Everest (successfully, it turns out). The parents ... don't come off very well. And the author goes very in-depth into how, regardless of how well-trained and physically able these kids may be, they lack the fully-developed cognitive reasoning of adults. To a certain point, they're simply unaware of their limits, which was a huge concern many had for the Everest kid given the dangers of hypoxia at those altitudes.

Very good read in a great magazine.

 

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How do you know the family wanted exposure? They don't strike me as Balloon Boy family.
They come across as intelligent and caring, actually. What's obvious is they place value and trust in their teenagers.
One of their kids sailed around the world, the other made it halfway and kept herself alive despite disaster.
My teenager can't bring in the garbage bins on a regular basis, and expects to be driven anywhere further than 100 yards.

 

mb posted some interesting information regarding the family earlier in the thread; the father, in particular, does not come off well. I take no issue with the spirit of adventure demonstrated by this young lady. It's admirable. But as DCaraviello posted earlier, I question the cognitive ability of a 16-year-old to undertake such a feat. But that was a funny Roethlisberger post by BTE.

 

Fishing boat Captain nearly drowned trying to rescue her:

But I'm sure this would have all been worth it either way.