So you're saying that it's a violation of the law for a 14 year old to sail a boat? Maybe wherever you are it is, but in most of the world it isn't.
Holy ****, you're stupid!
Of course it's not illegal for a 14-year-old to sail a boat. For an hour. For an afternoon. For a day. But for months at a time? All alone? Out on the open ocean? That's child endangerment, and that IS illegal in most civilized countries.
Also, dropping out of school at age 14 is illegal. In all civilized countries, that is.
There are probably few countries (if at all) that have specifically banned allowing a child to sail the open oceans for months or years at a time without adult supervision, simply because it's common sense and nobody in their right mind would let their child do such a thing, which is why it's so rarely an issue. Reminds me of a court case against a company producing microwaves because they didn't mention in the instructions that you can't use it to dry your pet. Now they are legally required to.
Thankfully this obviously falls under child endangerment, so it isn't necessary to concoct a new piece of legislature that describes these specific cases.
What Hell do you inhabit? In most of the US a girl who is 16 can have sex with anybody she wants to without any legal issues.
Here your lack of education clearly shines through. I'm not even from your country and I know your laws better than you do!
Once anybody has notified the police of any possible sexual relations between an adult and a minor (which constitutes anybody under the age of 18 in the entire US), they are required to investigate and, if possible, prosecute the adult in question for statutory rape. There are many known cases where parents simply didn't like the guy their 17-year-old daughter was seeing and thus proceeded to get her 18-year-old boyfriend put away on account of statutory rape. And because prisons need to be nice and full to be able to make money (which is what happens when you privatize prisons in a capitalist system) this is only considered to be a good thing.
So tell us, what percentage of people who have set out to sail around the world since, say, 1990, have died in the endeavor? Do you have a basis for asserting that it is "so dangerous" or are you just afraid of water and projecting that fear?
How many have tried to? If 10 people try something and they all return safely, does that automatically mean that it is safer than another activity that cost a thousand lives out of the million who tried it? I can only assume that you'd say yes, but logically and scientifically speaking the answer would be a definite and resounding NO.
Further more I know that there have been cases of people who just disappeared (perhaps they are living an anonymous life somewhere, seems unlikely, but who knows?) out on the open seas, of people adrift for months (we only know about those in the unlikely case they happen to survive) and of people getting kidnapped by Somali pirates for ransom. In a quick search I haven't been able to find any statistics though, so I can just as easily ask you to produce statistics to prove going out on the open ocean in a small craft is NOT dangerous. That would be equally impossible. Also, logic is on the side of those who are "afraid of water", as you so eloquently put it, when said body of water is the size of an ocean and you're trying to cross it in a small sailing vessel.
As for "other teens" agreeing with you on this, I'm sure you can. You can find "other teens" willing to ban water if you present it in the right manner. When you can present "other teens" with extensive offshore sailing experience who agree with you, get back to us. The opinions of "other teens" who have never seen the ocean don't count.
Another completely asinine statement.
So you'd let the opinions of people who are completely in love with a certain activity be the only opinions that count? That would mean that all drugs are awesome and should be readily available for everyone, even children, because that's certainly what a lot of experienced drug abusers think.
Their opinions actually don't matter in the slightest, because they can never be objective. For legislation purposes, one should only look at cold, hard facts, like the possible dangers involved and the statistics of them happening. And in the case of a minor, who is by law not yet considered to be mature enough to make his/her own decisions, if risk factors are avoidable, the parents should be required to make sure they are avoided. Period!
Fine, get every country in the world to pass such a law.
Again, every civilized country in the world has similar laws, only the exact age limits differ.
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Aronofskyistheshizzil
10 years ago
Jay you don't know near as much as you think. Each U.S. state (and the District of Columbia) has its own age of consent. Currently state laws set the age of consent at 16, 17, or 18. The most common age is 16.[50]
age of consent 16 (31): Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia
age of consent 17 (8): Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Wyoming
age of consent 18 (12): Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin[51]
These state laws are discussed in detail below. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_North_America#State_laws. There are only 12 states where A.O.C is 18 and all of them but maybe fl and ca have a 4 age rule. Example being a 16 yo can have sex with up to a 20 year old. Most states a 90 y.o can have sex with a 16 y.o. Also you are crazy if you think that girl would learn more in a classroom than sailing and seeing the world. This comes down to ideology. You are clearly a type A personality. You probably think everyone should go to college, get married, buy a house and procreate. That is exactly the status qoe this girl specifically is against. She wants to sail. That's it. People like you don't seem to understand risk taking either. I have ridden motorcycles for 20 years with out a helmet. I hate them.the whole point of getting on a bike is for the freedom of having the wind blow threw my hair. I do a lot of dangerous things and am ready to meet my maker with a smile on my face. Those squirrel suit guys die a lot. They are pioneers that died doing what they love. More power to them. IMO it's not how long you live but how you do it. That girl has already accomplished more than the vast majority of people ever do in life. I agree her young age is a concern. However she was as mature as any 18 y.o I've ever met. 14 is not 7.
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