Church groups say that 16 year old girls should stay at home quietly rather than sail around the rule, no exception.

Schoolgirl's solo sail 'irresponsible'

BNE Times link:

Jessica Watson, now 15, announced plans yesterday to circumnavigate the globe by herself in an attempt to become the youngest person ever to sail solo non-stop around the world.

So, she wants to do it and her parents don't mind. The scene is set for the moral majority to start going on and on about it:

First cab off the rank:

Bill Muehlenberg, secretary of the Family Council of Victoria, said the trip was "irresponsible".

"It sounds fairly reckless indeed given that even old experienced sailors can get into a lot of strife," Mr Muehlenberg told ABC radio.

Second cab off the rank:

But John Morrissey, of the Australian Family Association, said the trip was too risky.

"I'm a secondary teacher and I've been teaching 15 year-old girls for 42 years and I'd be amazed if any of them could cope with something like that," Mr Morrissey said.

So, they have an opinion, like arseholes, everyone's got one. The organisations that they represent are chronically ignorant about child protection. Most child sexual abuse comes from their cherished family model or direct from the churches themselves. Family, ironically, is a topic that "Family" associations are chronically ignorant about. They would do better to be silent and be thought fools.