It’s the Year of Living Dangerously for kids, for sure. Every time I look up it seems some youngster is attempting a death-defying feat of some sort, with mom and dad’s permission. In the past couple of weeks we’ve told you about Jordan Romero, who at 13 became the youngest person ever to summit Mt. Everest. Then there’s 12-year-old Mexican bullfighter Michelito Lagravere, who has already been gored twice; the latest on Sunday.
Now, Abby Sunderland, who at 16 was attempting to become the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe, may be lost at sea. Her crew has lost contact with her, and two emergency beacons have been activated on her boat.
Abby’s mother, MaryAnne Sunderland, told ABC News that Abby manually activated two beacons around 6 a.m. Pacific Time Thursday.
Abby was in 20-25 foot waves at the time of last contact, with 35-knot winds, said MaryAnne Sunderland, who is due to give birth at the end of the month. She was shaken but focused on trying to get a rescue effort together.
The closest land to Abby’s boat was Reunion Island, which is east of Madagascar. The nearest ship was 400 miles away. Rescuers were trying to contact the ship.
I don’t pretend to understand the mindset that these parents have to allow their children to so blatantly court disaster. The common thread here seems to be that the adults want their children to “live their dreams,” but besides the obvious danger involved, there’s such a thing as peaking too early. So you’ve sailed the globe solo, or just climbed Mr. Everest, all before your high school prom. What do you do for an encore?
“Today, my eight-year-old son will strap himself to a rocket, which is pointed at the moon. I see no way this can and badly.” Live your dream, young man. And bring a warm coat.
At least the Balloon Boy dad had enough sense to fake the whole thing; his son rode out his adventure safely, in a box in the attic. And yet he’s is the parent who did jail time.
And now this January post from the blog Californality has a real tinge of sadness:
Living in the same community as Abby does, I first heard of her plan to sail around the world a while back. My first reaction to her plan was surprise and concern. She’s such a young girl. I know that probably sounds gender-biased, but sorry. The rest of the world is not sunny Southern California. What about bandits, the cartel and pirates?
I heard Abby saying that she knows God will totally protect her. She was very serious and meant it. Her family shares her conviction.
Abby was approximately 500 miles north of the Antarctic Islands when her crew lost contact with her. She began the trip from Marina del Rey in southern California on Feb. 19, with the latest leg completed this past Tuesday (South Africa to North of the Kerguelen Islands — 2,100 miles). She’s been blogging about the journey on her web site, with the latest entry put up this morning.
Her older brother, Zac Sunderland, completed the trip in 2009.
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Abby Sunderland Feared Lost at Sea [ABC News]
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- missing word - Jun 10, 2010 at 3:26 PM
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this article left out a word – what with “white” kids and all these death defying stunts.
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- Amazed - Jun 10, 2010 at 3:26 PM
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What are the parents thinking?!?!?! They should be held accountable, even to the point of being charged with reckless endangerment of a child. At 16, this poor girl is just that, a child.
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- LV Tucker - Jun 10, 2010 at 3:35 PM
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It really isn’t healthy to presume too much on God’s protection.
“…the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, Praise be the Lord”.
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- susanmarie - Jun 10, 2010 at 3:36 PM
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There was a story about this young lady on 20/20 this last week. When the parents were questioned about the dangers of such a trip they made stupid comments like ” If she stayed here she could be hit by a car” and “She is a practiced sailor, she could do this.” What kind of parents are these to allow their minor children to take such risks?? Same goes for the guy who took his 13 year old to the top of Mount Everest. Thank goodness that turned out OK but when the father was questioned about it–he said something like..”what about the parents who allow their kids to eat junk food? That is proven to be dangerous” Are you kidding me????
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- Stupid Rich Parents - Jun 10, 2010 at 3:37 PM
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This is not a problem with all parents. This is a stupid rich parent problem. Parents who somehow felt they lived a deprived childhood, which probably is what caused them to be successful, and feel obligated to give their kids everything they did not have as kids. Sometimes this includes a tombstone.
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- What's race have to do with it? - Jun 10, 2010 at 3:40 PM
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Check out his article:
http://trueslant.com/caitlinkelly/2009/07/12/youngest-african-american-female-pilot-flies-cross-country/
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- JayEll - Jun 10, 2010 at 3:47 PM
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Certain young people have always been drawn to pushing the limit. Look up Everett Reuss, who disappeared in the deserts of the Southwest at age 20 in 1934. But currently, the kids doing these things don’t seem to be of that type, IMO. What we have are kids raised with too much bionic nonsense and too many techno movies of amazing (read: impossible) feats by young people. And, as someone pointed out, their families have the assets to provide these possibilities. It’s great when it works out; it’s not so great when it doesn’t.
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- Hey now - Jun 10, 2010 at 3:49 PM
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This is ridiculous, why is this so negative? Saying kids will “peak too early,” really? As a college student about to enter the workforce I know I won’t have time to do anything my heart desires once I get a graduate… and I’m only 20 years old! If I had the opportunity to do some of these heroic journeys before I fall into the 9-5 workday slaving in a cubicle, you bet I would. (And besides, this girl is two years away from being legally an adult.) If you have a dream, passion, or even just an item on your bucket list you should go for it, regardless of your age. No one is guaranteed to see tomorrow- live for today people. Unless of course your living for today is negatively criticizing other people’s dreams.
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- JoeO - Jun 10, 2010 at 3:54 PM
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I hope her parents have the biggest guilt trip if she’s in trouble. I do give them partial blame. Their job is to protect their daughter and to know better. She’s sixteen years old. That’s the age kids start driving. Is she really old enough to improvise and fix repairs that happen unexpectedly???
One look at Abby’s boat and you can tell it ain’t going to make it around the globe. It’s really puny. But apparently it was important to “become the world’s youngest solo circumnavigator” as she states on her website. Just the way it is worded says “it’s all about me”. Well she’s getting the attention alright. Before this article, I had never heard of her. One screw up, and now she’s famous. Presto. I think she’s getting the attention she wanted.
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- Doodle Bug - Jun 10, 2010 at 3:55 PM
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Oh sorry. I thought that was why black kids carried guns!!!!!!
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- Gothar - Jun 10, 2010 at 3:55 PM
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Yeah, Michelito the Mexican sounds really white…
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- Dave in Seattle - Jun 10, 2010 at 3:56 PM
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These parents have no regard for life. Now at the expence of others a rescue plan in in place. Involving the help of who knows how many people?. When a minor is injured and has to be airlifted to a hospital the parents are held responsible for the cost of the airlift and any other type of equptment used. I think this should apply for this young woman as well. How dare they let that child go by herself on such a dangerous task?..Sure God will take her home if necessary but is that a reason to just blow it off as “No big deal”?
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- jeff - Jun 10, 2010 at 3:57 PM
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I know Jordan Romero’s parents. For starters, they aren’t rich. Secondly his dad is a high altitude helicopter rescue unit worker who travels around the world doing 7 day long adventure races which make marathons look like 3K sprints. So much for your completely off target remarks. There may be good arguments against letting kids risk death, but there aren’t any in that post…
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- Crimson Wife - Jun 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM
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I don’t fault the parents for allowing Abby to attempt the trip, but I do blame them for not having someone nearby to rescue her in the event of a mishap. Why was the nearest ship 400 miles away? Sadly, that error in judgment appears to have cost Abby her life
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- peoplerdumb - Jun 10, 2010 at 4:01 PM
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Because the Mexican kid is white… oh wait.
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- Prosecutethem - Jun 10, 2010 at 4:01 PM
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If it turns out this child is truly lost at sea, her parents should be prosecuted in California for reckless endangerment. A parent should have the sense to know that they should never let a child (and at 16, she IS still a child) put herself at risk needlessly. This is simply shameful behavior in a world where parents in less fortunate countries struggle every day to keep their children safe from real threats like war, piracy and famine.
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- White momma - Jun 10, 2010 at 4:04 PM
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Thats right!!! This white comment pissed me off too!!!
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- hey now - Jun 10, 2010 at 4:04 PM
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Dumb
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- it happens - Jun 10, 2010 at 4:06 PM
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not that race ahs anything to do with it but its not just all white kids… the did mention a 12 year old mexican…
all i know is if i were any of there kids parents i wouldnt let them do anything till they were a bit older… or at least let them do something that had a safety cord attached… i unno
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- Mike - Jun 10, 2010 at 4:08 PM
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First off: parents should be held accountable for children getting hurt or killed while under the age of 18, period. Second: it’s pretty stupid to assume God will protect you; this mentality is a sure sign of ignorance, naivity and childish rhetoric. The world is a harsh place, children are not prepared for it at 16. Sorry, she shouldn’t have gone alone.
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- jmyQ - Jun 10, 2010 at 4:09 PM
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“Her older brother, Zac Sunderland, completed the trip in 2009.”
Talk about sibling rivalry …
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- Chris - Jun 10, 2010 at 4:09 PM
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You’re absolutely right. And if she dies, she dies. No skin off your ass.
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- Jonathan - Jun 10, 2010 at 4:10 PM
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Get a grip. There parents love their kids but unlike those average-joe families, living their ordinary lives, who tune in to stupid new shows to feed their paranoia about their child’s safety, they recognize that living in fear is not living.
Ask yourself this simple question. If someone wrote a book about your life would anyone (outside of your family) actually want to read it? Probably not. At least these kids will look back someday at what they did, not dreaming about what they could have done. And if they do perish in the process, they go doing something they love.
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- EL - Jun 10, 2010 at 4:12 PM
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Man, I hope she makes it. It does seem beyond moronic that her parents let her do this without any supervision, but I am also sure they feel terrible right now and regret their decision, we all make bad decisions and we all have to live with the consequences. For example, as a freshmen in college in Colorado all my friends wanted to go rock climbing. I thought I would go and I ended up scaling a pretty small rock face, but even this small rock face was about 50 feet up, and as I approached the top I was completely vertical and without a rope I realized this was a very bad decision, I made it up to the top but if I had fallen or slipped I would have died. I learned from that to really think about doing things which could result in death or injury. Let’s give the parents a break and hope she makes it out alive to learn. But all other parents out there learn from this, at the end of the day saying no to your kids bums them out but they still wake up the next day.
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- Kerry Goodwin - Jun 10, 2010 at 4:14 PM
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If this is her dream, I say let her do it. Young pre high school kids are killed on soccer fields, football feilds, moto cross tracks, fishing trips, hunting trips and you name it, many times forced to play sports by their egotistical parents. This girl is doing what she loves! Nay sayers blow!!!
