What a spoiled brat kid! Nederlands should stop caring for this ungrateful brat and let her go to New Zealand and stay there forever! Let her give up her Dutch citizenship since she hates it here so much! Her parents did a lousy job raising her without setting limits!

By sandra | December 24, 2009 10:00 AM

Talk about a spoiled brat! Send her to Morocco in exchange for the thousands who came here for a better life. How does a 14 y/o girl get to the Caribbean without adult supervision? Where were the parents? They sure taught her to do whatever she wants and to hell with rules, laws and the legal system. Grant her adulthood and revoke her Dutch citizenship. See how long this spoiled child lasts without money? This story is how parents should NOT raise their children!

By Paul Martin | December 24, 2009 11:39 AM

Sounds like the sentiment of any 14 year old who isn't allowed to do what they want. She should be just told to shut up and stop being such a drama queen. If her attitude of self righteousness isn't curbed she's going to grow up to be another little spoiled princess - and that's all The Netherlands needs ;-)

By Geuzen76 | December 24, 2009 11:53 AM

And I'm going to hold my breath until I turn blue if they don't let me leave!!!

*pout*

Honey, where are you going to go that's less of a nanny state than the Netherlands? Puh-leez. Stop proving the state right with your adolescent whinges.

By CW | December 24, 2009 12:50 PM

She has worked very hard, she does not seem spoiled, perhaps some ideas for her journey (e.g. sleep plans) are good ones, so I am mostly curious if her treatment is a symptom of the recently stupidifying and conservatizing Dutch national government?

Looking at this at the European level, it is actually Michael Schumacher who should be prevented from making any journeys, even on a closed course.

She inspires with the wind; he preaches with oil.

By Todd | December 24, 2009 1:21 PM

We're fed up too and leaving NL also. All the good things about NL are just not quite enough to outweigh the negative stuff. Go Laura!

By Michael | December 24, 2009 1:34 PM

you go girl. her life her business. why is the government sticking her nose in business it doesn't belong? it show holland is not a free country at all and where you can't do anything without government approval. poor girl. she's right to want to get out of there. new zealand will be a much better place

By Nicole van Zanten | December 24, 2009 2:29 PM

Darlin I will be more than happy to swap passports with you. Come on over to the US and see how long it takes you to get fed up with out government

By Bobke | December 24, 2009 2:33 PM

She inspires with the wind as Todd says.
I find her a breath of fresh air. Apprently she seems like a sail genius to me and the state should encourage and protect her and not opress. Too many old fashioned people decide on lives in NL. Give genii (geniuses) a chance they have better talent than us adults.Treat them well.

By Doria | December 24, 2009 2:50 PM

this is a girl born to nautical parents. she was born on a boat. she feels at home when on a boat. thats fair enough. i think however we are missing the crux of the issue: how much of this child's desire to spend 2 years (700+/- days) in isolation to sail around the world with all that she may find: sharks, whales, electrical storms, hurricanes... is due to her own desire?

is the 'want' to travel around the world solo in a dingy or boat really her own desire? or is it her sailor parents wanting her to achieve the goals that she never did?

who sent her to St Maarten? Was it her doing? Or was it a publicity stunt? Either way, should the state intervene or not?

This is a 14 year old child who on a round the world trip would face personal challenges: fear, lack of sleep, solitude, that no child of those years would face.

i understand the ambition. but i cant help but think that the child needs to be preserved in this case.

and remember, she might not be spoilt, she might have her drive because of the desire of her parents. and does that make it her drive? and her being spoilt? i dont think so. this is a more complex issue of how parents, expectations and children all relate, both with each other and with society and their expectations.

By hlm | December 25, 2009 1:11 AM

I agree with the 'Spoiled Brat' camp! A 14 year old has neither the maturity or the insight to make a rational decision such as this. We live in a global civilized society; if she can't get along with others now, how will she ever do so in the future ??

By anneke | December 25, 2009 7:32 AM

I can't believe she hasn't been given her own reality tv show yet.

By Andrew | December 25, 2009 8:16 AM

Let her go and focus on kids that are really abused in holland. This case just makes it like child wefare organization is doing their jobs. What a waste of time for this spoiled little brat.

By John.Tamming@sympatico.ca | December 25, 2009 4:39 PM

I'm totally fed up with this story: it's getting more publicity than it deserves!

BTW, nothing wrong with NL. - but fed up with the Balk-ellende-dictatorship, YES!

By stevie | December 25, 2009 9:43 PM

Sounds like myself from a few years ago. Luckily I was old enough to decide for myself.

By Milan | December 26, 2009 12:13 AM

I hate how all people can comment on is her age. Not every 14 yr old has the maturity of a 14 yr old. My niece is almost 14 and I'd say she is as mature as a 9 yr old. Her 14 yr old sister who will be 15 next month on the other hand, seems like a 20 year old and I mean that in a good way. It should not just be about how old she is!

By Laura | December 26, 2009 4:20 PM

Laura, I feel your pain. If I could afford to adopt you I would. I would have to move to Vancouver or Halifax to have access to the ocean but it would be worth it.
I don't see you as a spoiled brat. Believe me I understand what it is like being smarter than average and feeling the schackles that the rest of society puts on us. We know what we are capable of doing. There is hope, Sir Richard Branson was probably like you when he was your age but look what he accomplished. It hurts to wait but after 16 if there are emancipated minor laws in Holland, I would say go for it.
From what I am seeing in print here I think you will make it.

By Dale | December 26, 2009 11:26 PM

The subtle irony is if the parents had done a better job raising her she wouldn´t be a "ward of court".

This is a no-win for the State. If they let her go and she comes to harm in milliseconds the press will be sharpening their knives for the social services.

The right decisions have been made. To let her go would set a simple precedent, and then every teenager with a bent for some wild activity would come forward and protest to be allowed to follow some wild dream at great risk and expense.

This isn´t nanny state at all. It´s what my parents call "Common Sense", remember?

By Rich | December 27, 2009 12:22 AM

the girl is asking to do no more than others have done... atleast she is trying to accomplish something in her life...
More power to her...

By Richard | December 28, 2009 3:17 AM

At age 11, Vicki Van Meter made headlines when she flew from across the United States, from Augusta, Maine to San Diego, California in a Cessna 172. A year later she flew a Cessna 210 over the Atlantic Ocean to Scotland. Was she a brat to follow her dreams to to achieve so much at such an early age? I think not. Those who are now calling Laura Dekker a spoiled brat are typical of those who sit on the sidelines of life and never take a chance. They will never understand the adventursome nature of people like Vicki Van Meter and Laura Dekker who have a love for life and for living life on the edge. It’s people like them that we can thank for all the advances society has made, not the government bureaucrats who sit safely behind their desks. So, here’s some advice for those who are calling Laura Dekker a spoiled brat. Do what you do best and just sit on the sidelines, because you will never understand someone with a spirit of adventure.

By Jodie Baker | December 29, 2009 1:07 AM

I find it unbelievable that people are commenting on here how the Netherlands is "not a nanny state". Wake up and look around people!
As for Laura being a spoiled brat, maybe she is, but seriously, who gives a crap. She wants to sail around the world, her parents do not have a problem with it. Let her go! Focus on problems that actually need solutions!

By Marc | December 30, 2009 10:25 AM

To Jody Baker ,tell the whole story The girl in your story would have had an experienced and licenced person in the command seat.As for Laura who's going to foot the bill when she gets into trouble.Maybe if we make the parents responsable ,we'd get a different story.

By leon belgrave | January 4, 2010 6:13 AM