Boat girl's parents: Negligent or Noble?

Many of you a href=”http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/solo_sail_girl_LgDVHJyGLV3RJNXe2D6R4L”may have read about the 16-year-old teenage girl/a who was recently found on her boat in the Indian ocean after trying to break the world record for sailing around the world. A number of commenters to the article in the span style=”font-style:italic;”NY Post/span blame the parents for the girl getting lost as they allowed her to fulfill her dream. a href=”http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/solo_sail_girl_LgDVHJyGLV3RJNXe2D6R4L”Here are some examples:/abr /br /blockquotethis 16 year old shouldnt be alone on the sea period. what is wrong with her parents? i guess kids can do what ever they want to do huh?br /br /Her parents ARE negligent. How can you allow your “child” to leave home – alone – and go out into the open sea thousands of miles away from you? Of course there are dangers are land, but at least you can get to your child within a reasonable time if they need you. But to be in Thousand Oaks, CA – on the phone doing guess-work – while your child is at least a 22 hour plane trip away is ridiculous. And everyone defending them must be either bad parents or have no children at all./blockquotebr /br /This is a tough one. As a parent, you want to protect your child, but if your child has a dream before they are 18, isn’t one of your goals as a parent to try and teach them to be autonomous and reach that goal? When I was 14, I wanted to be an airplane pilot more than anything in the world. My parents delivered me to the airport every week to fly Cessna 150s as long as I paid for it through my job. I know my Dad was a bit nervous that I was flying in the mountains but he never said a word. br /br /To this day, I admire my parents for allowing me to fly and fulfill that dream, though because of bad eyesight, I never made it as a pilot. However, my time in the air and my parent’s ability to let go taught me to make it on my own. For that, I am forever grateful to them. I bet that one day, this young sailor will be to her parents also. People think these parents are negligent, but perhaps they are simply overcoming their own fear of letting their kid venture forth. I think this is noble, not negligent. br /br /What do you think?