Here's an op-ed I wrote for the LA Times a few days ago that's sparking a lot of reaction and getting a lot of play in papers and on radio around the country.
A lesson in brave parenting
The parents of 16-year-old solo sailor Abby Sunderland aren't crazy. They're subversives,
bucking the overprotective parenting trend.
What in heaven's name were her parents thinking?
For a lot of people, that was the second thought that came to mind upon hearing that Abby Sunderland, the 16-year-old Thousand Oaks girl attempting to sail solo around the world, was rescued by a French fishing vessel Saturday after being cast adrift in the middle of the Indian Ocean. (The first thought, of course, was: Thank God she's alive.)
Now that Abby's OK, the inevitable storm of criticism is raining down on her parents, Laurence and Marianne, who wished their daughter bon voyage when she cast off from Marina del Rey in January. Allowing a 16-year-old girl to sail alone around the world — were they insane?
Not at all. Unusual, yes. But hardly "the worst parents in the world," as I've heard them called recently. In fact, they may be the opposite. Like Paul Romero, the father of Jordan Romero, the 13-year-old Big Bear Lake teenager who climbed Mt. Everest last month, the Sunderlands are practicing something bold and rare these days: brave parenting.
Raising kids today (I have an 11-year-old and an 8-year-old) is like working on a construction site with an overzealous risk manager. Everywhere you look there are signs reminding parents that Safety Is Job One. We're told to cut up hot dogs and grapes to prevent choking, to lash the kids into car seats, to never let them out of sight at the park. A certain amount of this is progress, of course. I'd rather my kids not launch through the windshield like human missiles in a head-on, thank you.
But in our obsession with safety, we've lost sight of the upside of risk, danger and even injury: raising bold children who are prepared for adventure and eager to embrace the unfamiliar.
Read the rest of the story at the LA Times site here.
I came across your site after hearing your wife on OnPoint the other day and found this article to be particularly relevant to my life right now. My wife and I are in the middle of a debate about whether to give my 13 year-old daughter a cell phone to use on her walks with our dog during the day.
I think she should have a phone because her walks often take her a mile or more from our home and I worry about what might happen if she gets hurt or has a problem with the dog while that far from home. I know it's a minor thing when compared to sailing around the world solo, but your article has given me a new perspective on the issue. Thanks and I'll look for more of your writing.
Posted by: Doug | January 12, 2011 at 01:59 PM