I tend to agree with you.

Some of the commentary I have read suggests that the parents are of the pushy, achievement through their children types, which I personally loathe. However, I don't really know the child or the parents except through the lens of the media.

Nobody should care who the youngest to sail round the world is. Even my cat has done it, alongside being the 5,112th feline to climb Everest without oxygen or kibbles.

However, a full and proper education is far more important to a 13 year old than ten seconds at the end of a new bulletin. Of course the girl wants to be "famous" rather than going to school.

It seems a bit odd that the state has to step in, and I can't say I'm in favour of that. Nonetheless, I can see the argument, as there is a very good chance that a young girl will not have the stamina to battle an unexpected storm, and may well end up in the news for the wrong reasons. I can't imagine why a parent would allow the chance of that happening. One can't stop them once they are eighteen, but one ought to try when they are still dependent.