Laura Dekker victim of ageism in Netherlands?
Laura Dekker, 14, has been trying since August last year to sail around the world on her own and in so doing become the youngest person to accomplish the feat. When she first announced her plans, the courts quickly intervened and according to Netherlands news reports, she was placed under the custody of the Child Protection Board in order to be assessed.
The move was a sweeping one that drew international attention to Holland and sparked a worldwide debate about the role of the government versus the authority of parents and the independence of minors to make their own decisions.
“It's really more a question, is that person, that young person, mature enough to be able to look after themselves and deal with everything that's going to come at you when you get out alone at sea?” said Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail alone around the world without stopping. He did that at the age of 29.
Another sailor, Mike Perham, the youngest Briton ever to sail solo around the world, also pointed out that age was not necessarily the overriding factor and was quoted by Netherlands news reports as saying that the important point was “whether she's got the physical strength, the mental strength, or the technical ability” to carry out the voyage.
These are what the concerns for Dekker center around: whether she has the physical and mental capability to sail her yacht around the world on her own. The plan is an ambitious one, Dekker, who is now just 14 years old, intends to navigate her 37-foot ketch from Portugal across the Atlantic and Panama Canal, past Indonesia, around Africa (or up into the Mediterranean depending on the piracy situation) and back to Portugal.
The trip could take as much as 300 days, and although there are 26 stops planned along the route, along with a support team will follow her, the girl’s hopes and ambitions remain controversial. When her plans were first reported in Netherlands news media locally in Wijk bij Duurstede where Dekker lives, local officials became concerned and contacted the Child Welfare Office, which sought the court order for shared custody between her parents and the state.
The evaluation of Dekker has now been completed but the results remain as controversial as the planned voyage itself. The youth counselors who have been monitoring Dekker agree that she has the mental and emotional maturity and strength to undertake the voyage, but a more powerful government organization the Council for Child Care, feels that her plans should be postponed for another year.
The Council for Child Care recently asked the court in Middleberg to extend the shared guardianship by another year, according to Netherlands news media and if the courts agree, Dekker may have to wait until she is 15 before being allowed to undertake the circumnavigation.
Sailing runs in the blood of Laura Dekker and her family. She was born aboard a yacht in New Zealand during a seven-year voyage her parents undertook around the world and when the first court ruling barring her from setting out was first made, she was out on the water at the time the gavel hit its sound block.
She spent her first four years of life at sea and was capable of sailing her own boat at the age of six, at the age of thirteen she caused waves amongst child care circles in the UK when she sailed into Lowestoft in England, having completed a solo crossing from the Netherlands.
At the time, in May of 2009, the UK authorities placed her boat under arrest and ordered her father to sail back with her.
“My parents have sailed around the world, they know what can happen and that it's not always fun, but because I want to do it so much they agreed and supported me,” Dekker told Netherlands news media at a press conference soon after her solo navigation dreams were dashed.
Dekker’s parents have supported their daughter’s plans from the start, which has attracted scrutiny from the public and accusations of negligence. These are similar accusations that were leveled at Jessica Watson’s parents when they allowed their 16 year old daughter to sail solo around the world.
This she accomplished without incident and was welcomed back to Australia a hero. Not every child wants to accomplish something to be proud of, not every child has the drive and ambition of youngsters that push themselves, like Jessica Watson, the youngest person to sail around the world solo or Jordan Romero who at just 13 is the youngest person to climb Mount Everest.
Dekker and her family have put significant time into planning and training for the voyage. Dekker has her first aid diploma, has practiced functioning under conditions of sleep deprivation and has made arrangements for school work to be done via the Internet.
According to her website, an Iridium tracking system will allow her support team to follow her progress and her route will avoid the Roaring Forties, an area of ocean that circles the world between the latitudes 40 and 50 beneath Australia and is so-called for its tendency to whip up fierce storms.
However, she will have to wait for the court’s decision before she can make any further plans.
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Netherlands Feature
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Laura Dekker victim of ageism in Netherlands?
Laura Dekker’s future plans to sail around the world solo hang in the balance as her emotional and mental stability is argued over by two national child care agencies that are in disagreement about her state of mind.
Laura Dekker, 14, has been trying since August last year to sail around the world on her own and in so doing become the youngest person to accomplish the feat. When she first announced her plans, the courts quickly intervened and according to Netherlands news reports, she was placed under the custody of the Child Protection Board in order to be assessed. Read more
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