Ill Planned Voyage for Teen Amounts to Endangerment - Abby Sunderland

Sailing around the world in a sailboat is a daunting task for anyone. It is a personal triumph for some, a challenge for others and it can also be a harrowing a deadly event for anyone. Dangers can be found with storms, ocean currents, rogue waves or any number of other events, including pirates, that can occur during the trip and even though some may anticipate such occurrences, they are mostly unforeseen and many times they are deadly.

How can a parent possibly justify allowing their underage child to take on such an endeavor? Abbey Sunderland set out on her own at the tender age of 16 with her parent's blessing in an attempt to break her brother's record of being the youngest person to sail around the world. This brings up a very important question...should a parent be held accountable for allowing an event like this to even be considered?

Many people fall on either side of the debate. There are those who believe that since this teenager was a skilled sailor, she should be allowed and nothing is wrong with her going and there are those who believe the parents should be held accountable for allowing it. The best argument for holding the parents accountable are the headlines of June 10, 2010 from several news sources that use the words "lost at sea".

The price tag for Sunderland's rescue is enormous. The governments of Australia and France are paying for a rescue that included planes and various ships diverted from normal business. American taxpayers would be downright outraged if they had to spend several hundred thousand dollars to rescue a teen who decided she just had to "one up her brother". For the record, Abby's brother does NOT hold the record for being the youngest person to sail around the world.

No insurance had been purchased for the trip and even the U.S. Sailing Association had refused to sponsor the trip because they considered it too dangerous. Sunderland's parent have made it very clear that there was no way that they could reimburse they rescuers for saving their daughter even if they had been asked to.

Like many idiotic things people do for attention in our world of reality television, Sunderland's father had apparently been shopping around for just that..."Adventures in Sunderland", picked up by Magnetic Entertainment of Studio City, California. At least the "Balloon Boy" was safe when his parents decided to look for their next reality show.

The Sunderland's apparently have a large family with all seven kids being home schooled and they are barely ever seen out of their home. There is nothing wrong with having a big family. There is also nothing wrong with home schooling your kids. The dilemma here lies in the possibility that for the past few years the Sunderland children may have been groomed for reality television since it appears that the children have little exposure to anything else.

Laws of the U.S. are meant to protect our underage children. "Child Endangerment" is when a parent or guardian (or adult in charge) knowingly acts in a manner that creates a substantial risk to a child or minor's physical, mental or emotional health or safety. Any excuse made by Abby's parents or their supporters is a mute point. If a poor person, a person previously a ward of the foster care system or other unknown adult had allowed such reckless and dangerous events to occur, they would be looking forward to prosecution.

The reality show appears to be nothing more than a way to make big money without ever having to get a real job or be responsible for your own family. If the reality show becomes a reality, the Sunderland's should be required to pay back at least 50% of what the Australian and French taxpayers have to shell out for such an ill conceived event. I do not believe that most parents want Abby's father to try and convince them to go out and do anything.

The Sunderland's should not be allowed to walk away without some type of repercussion.