Abby Sunderland is missing. Her last known location was somewhere north of the Antarctic Islands and somewhere south of Madagascar. The California native is sixteen, and determined to be the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe. As of the last post made to her blog, she has not been found, nor does anyone seem to be sure as to what might have gone amiss. One possible clue-she's a sixteen year old girl alone in the ocean on a sail boat.
A part of me hopes this will turn out to be just another publicity stunt, that she will turn up unharmed after a brief rest stop on a small little uncharted island, but it doesn't look good.
Running Scared insists that we should concentrate on hopes for her safe return and avoid the obvious recriminations against her parents for allowing such a young girl to engage in such a risky venture.
I see their point. Abby's parents are obviously the kind of people who want to give their children free reign to express their creativity and develop their talents and skills, to be "the best people they can be", and not stand in their way with negative discipline.
Who knows, just like the young Australian girl whose recent voyage around the world obviously inspired Abby, Abby herself might well inspire some young teen to be the first American kid to join a crew of Somali pirates-become a member of an Amazonian tribe of headhunters, or maybe head out into the wild and join a pack of wolves. Some lucky kid might fall in with a group of coyotes-the kind that smuggle illegal immigrants across the border, that is, or maybe drugs. There, now wouldn't that be a great learning experience? Don't trust your kids education to books and school. Let them go out and experience life for themselves, with all its wonders and dangers.
So yeah, I'll join in with the Village Voice in hoping that Abby is safe, and that she is soon found and brought to safety.
By Child Protective Services, that is. Take note of the picture at top, which is from her blog. If you magnify the picture to where you get a real good close up shot, she does not look like a happy camper. Sure, I might be reading too much into one photo, but it did make me wonder, how much of this little adventure was really her idea. Did her parents just give her permission, or did they in effect push her into this?
If this does turn into a tragedy, at least it might make some parents think twice before "allowing" this kind of thing. But then again, I seriously doubt it.
