Child explorers

Watch this video from NBC’s Today Show. It’s an interview with the family of Abby Sunderland, the 16-year-old girl who was trying to sail solo around the world but who got caught in a vicious storm in the Indian Ocean. It’s sort of long, but pay attention to how the Dad answers the question at the end about whether it’s right to let someone so young attempt something like this.

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Note that her brother, Zac, also sailed solo around the world at age 17.

Everyone should be relieved that Abby is OK, but I admit to being completely stumped by the idea that a parent would let a minor child attempt something so dangerous. Why the rush to do this before adulthood? How do you measure what could be gained (confidence? notoriety?) against what might be lost?

The Sunderlands aren’t alone by any stretch. Last month, 16-year-old Jessica Watson of Australia sailed alone around the world in a record-breaking 210 days. Also in May, 13-year-old Jordan Romero of Big Bear, Calif., scaled Mount Everest, setting the record for the youngest person to do so.

But remember Jessica Dubroff? She was 7 years old in April of 1996 when she tried to be the youngest person to pilot an airplane across the United States. She crashed and died in Wyoming.

She would have been 21 this year, probably in college learning about the world and preparing for a career. Maybe someone can help me out here. I don’t see how setting an age-based record compares to that.