Do We Give Our Kids Too Much, or Not Enough Freedom?

In January, 16 year old Abigail Sunderland set sail to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone without stopping.  Unfortunately, yesterday she ran into some trouble on the high seas in the Indian Ocean.  Reports say that she battled 30 feet waves caused by the southern hemisphere's winter season.  During the wave swells, her mast broke and she was stranded.  She set her emergency beacons off and was found today by a plane flying overhead.  She is currently so far away from anything remotely resembling civilization, that it won't be until tomorrow before the closets ship in the area (a French fishing boat) will be able to get to her.

Many people have questioned whether or not Abby's parents should have let their 16 year old daughter take on such a feet.  Some people say she is just a child and way to young to have taken on such a venture.  Some people have even called the Sunderlands bad parents and guilty of negligence  for letting her do such a thing.

So my question to you is this.  What is too much to let out kids do?  Are we to protective of our children these days?  Do we pamper them more than we need to?  Are we hurting our children in not letting them pursue things that might be considered dangerous?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter.  If you could please your comments on the blog as opposed to facebook etc.  Blessings.