Stop her or let her?

Let's say you have a daughter.
Her name is Laura and she is 13.
She comes home and she says she wants to sail around the world by herself in a 8 meter sailing boat.
What are you going to say?
OK, darling, let's go to the supermarket and buy your supplies?
Or will you tell Laura to finish her school first?

In reality, there is a 13 year old Laura that wants to sail around the world in a 8 meter sailing boat.
She lives in the Netherlands.
And without sailing one mile she is already the talk of the country.

Her parents are avid sailers.
Taking the daughter along.
Teaching her how to sail.
Having her once sail by herself from the Netherlands to the UK crossing the North Sea.

Until Laura came up with this plan to sail by herself around the world.
Somehow, she managed to convince her parents this was a brilliant idea.
They got her the boat and started preparations.
Seriously planning to send their 13 year flesh and blood on that journey that will take 2 years.
Leaving September 1, 2009.

Now, this costs money.
So, Laura and her parents went to look for sponsors.
Companies that would make the journey financially possible to get publicity in return.
This is when the plan became publicly known.

Naturally, the Government service that supervises education got to know about Laura's plan.
In the Netherlands a child is obliged by law to study in an official school until the age of 18.
If parents do not take care the child goes to school, they are punished by law.
So, Laura's parents cannot simply allow their daughter to go on a 2 year sailing trip abandoning the school where she is studying now.
The parents are claiming that Laura will study while sailing but this has not been accepted by the authorities.
In fact, the Government went to court to obtain the right to take Laura away from the supervision of her parents.
This means Laura has to go to a temporary and neutral situation, that could be foster parents.
To stop her from getting on her boat to sail away.

Because Laura's boat is ready to sail, many believe she will slip away soon.
Just get on her boat and go in spite of the objections of the Government authorities.

This whole idea of a very young person sailing the oceans is not new.
There is this English chap called Mike Perham, 17 years old who is now finishing his trip around the world in a sailing boat all by himself.
When he was 14 he crossed the Atlantic Ocean although his Dad was in another sailing boat just behind him.
And we have 16 year old Zac Sunderland from California, USA on his $ 6,500 sailing boat taking off for a trip around the world this Saturday.

Obviously, 13 year old Laura in the Netherlands has been thinking that what those boys can achieve, she could do better.

The public debate these days in the Netherlands is whether it is responsible to let a 13 year old girl go on such a trip.
Many people ask themselves if they would allow and support a daughter of 13 to sail the oceans for two years.

On national Dutch TV experts were saying it is entirely possible.
Physically she is believed to be able to handle it.
Persons who know her say mentally she can do it as well.

It is a difficult issue to have a point of view.
One could say she better finishes her school first successfully before to even talk about sailing the world.
But one could also say that it will be the most important experience of her life learning much more than in school.
That is, if she survives.

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To learn more about Zac Sunderland, click on:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90990386

To learn more about Mike Perham, click on:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/sailing/5859614/British-teenager-Mike-Perham-aims-for-round-the-world-sailing-record.html


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