With her sailboat Wild Eyes drifting without a mast in the Indian Ocean more than 700 miles from shore, let’s just hope Abby Sunderland’s folks have kept the boat insurance premiums up. Abby’s parents have come under direct fire since their sixteen year old daughter’s attempted solo circumnavigation of the globe was cut short by sever weather in the Southern Indian Ocean.

The criticism has come in many forms, from those who know a bit about sailing that Abby should not have been sailing through the Indian Ocean when it is winter there, and heavy storms are prevalent to the more generic “how in the world could anyone let their sixteen year old daughter…”

Would we allow our teenaged children to take on such a dangerous voyage? Who knows. Most of us have enough trouble just getting our teenagers to have enough ambition to take on Algebra. And yet, the fact is that just about every one of us allows our children to get into dangerous situations every day. The average teenager behind the wheel of a car has had far less experience with his vehicle and poses a much greater risk to himself and to others than Abby ever did in Wild Eyes.

Abby Sunderland is a very seasoned sailor for her age. Her older brother had already sailed around the world. Funny, no one was hollering about how irresponsible the Sunderlands were then. It’s only when plans go awry that bandwagon jumpers seem to rise up to wag fingers at those who dare to believe their kids are capable of accomplishing greatness.

We wouldn’t worry about Abby. She knew what she was doing, had a vessel that was well equipped for the voyage, and when things did go wrong, knew what to do and handled herself admirably. All of the clamor aside, we can’t imagine any parent who wouldn’t be proud of their kid for the way she handled herself in a very difficult situation.

Of course, many have pointed out that the international rescue effort was frightfully expensive. But let’s keep in mind that the costs would have been the same for a sailor of any age. That, and nobody objects when public resources are used to pull teens out of the wreckage of a totaled car.

OK, there are some extra zeroes involved. We get that. But the fact remains, Abbie had an opportunity to attempt something that only a handful of people have done successfully, and she gave it a shot. We wonder if more of us encouraged our children to take risks like that what kind of a world we could create in the next generation. We don’t know, either, but I suspect getting kids excited about taking chances like that is better than having them on the streets exposed to drugs, gangs, and who knows what else.  So, give the Sunderlands a break. And if your kid ever attempts to sail around the world, make sure the boat insurance is paid up.

Photo via RiRi Trautmann