Sailor Abby essay | Teen Ink

Sailor Abby essay

January 20, 2022
By AHICKS2191 BRONZE, Goshen, Ohio
AHICKS2191 BRONZE, Goshen, Ohio
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

How do you think Abby Sunderland and her family felt after being portrayed by the media? On June 12, 2010 Abby Sunderland the age of 16,  Went out on a boat by herself thinking it was a good idea, because of bad weather conditions she lost control over her boat and crashed. The media, like the news and journalists, made the Sunderland family look like they made a bad decision for Abby when they wrote or talked about her in the news letters or online. The media portrayed Abby´s decision by, making her look careless, also making her look irresponsible, and lastly, Making Abby look immature.

First, the media makes her look careless. In the text it says, “It´s not something that a 16 year old should be able to decide, whether they´re capable of doing it” (rescued teenager sailor Abby Sunderland, accused of risking her life, page 21, paragraph 40). This explains that the media saying she is too young to be sailing out on the ocean at her age, because she might not be capable of doing so. In the text it says, ¨She has since abandoned her 40-foot boat and boarded a French fishing vessel, from where she resumed her blog¨  (Page 24, paragraph 11-13). This then explains that, while Abby got lost at sea she was still blogging on a different boat instead of maybe calling her parents to let them know she is safe. Not only does the media portray Abby and her family this way, but they also show them as Irresponsible. 

Then, the media makes her parents look irresponsible. In the passage it says, “It´s potentially irresponsible for the parents¨(Page 21, paragraph, 40). This explains that the media is saying that Abby's parents are irresponsible for their parenting. Abby Sunderland, accused of risking her life. In the text it says,¨ Abby Sunderland couldn't drive without a learner´s permit.¨(Paragraph 41-42, page 25) This shows that, Abby needed a permit for being able to drive a boat, so she needed to go through all these steps of learning how to drive the boat and how to park it and things. Additionally, they are portrayed as immature in The Articles. 

Lastly, the media makes Abby look Immature. In the text it says ¨perhaps someone should have stepped in to impose some parenting standards between the Sunderlands¨ (Ship of fools, page 25, paragraph 30). This explains that Abby´s parents should have let someone say something about letting a 16 year old out by herself on the ocean, and saying the parents should have made that decision for her and not herself. In the text it states that, ¨in Abby's case she was lucky. It´s only a matter of time until we end up with a tragedy on our hands.¨ (Page 21, paragraph 44-45) This explains, Abby should have not gone out in the ocean by herself at her age, this makes her look immature and careless about her decision. Overall, the Media portrayed Abby and her family as, an imperfect family. 

 The media portrayed Abby´s decision by making her look careless, then also making her parents look irresponsible, and, Making Abby look immature. The Sunderlands decisions about letting Abby go out by herself on a boat could have led to her dying and hurting others. It was a very poor decision by letting Abby go out by herself because it could have caused a lot of harm. Furthermore, Abby and her family should have waited for her to get older to make this decision of letting her go out by herself on the water. After reading this essay, how do you think Abby and her family felt after being portrayed?



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