A legal battle over a Dutch teen's bid to sail solo around the world has sparked a firestorm of debate over what role parenting plays in children's risky adventures.

Thirteen-year-old Laura Dekker wants to become the youngest person to achieve the feat, and her parents think it's a great idea.

But the Dutch Council for Child Protection is so concerned about the dangers of the voyage that it has asked a court to grant it temporary custody of Dekker so it can do what her parents refuse to — halt the trip.

Judges at a district court in Utrecht were to announce Friday whether they will scupper the girl's plans.

The rat race to become a so-called "super child" — the youngest to accomplish some gruelling feat — can be fuelled by ambitious parents, laser-focused children with talent, or youngsters with a deep need to please or be praised, psychologists say.

Dutch social workers fear that could be an issue in Dekker's case, for she lives with her Dutch father, who is divorced from her German mother.

"Laura has divorced parents, and it is very normal for a child of this age to be very loyal to the parent [he or she] is living with," Dutch Council for Child Protection spokesman Richard Bakker said Tuesday. "How much does she identify herself with her father, who is a good sailor?"

Dekker and her father appeared at a court hearing Monday to discuss the council's request, but the mother did not show up, Bakker said.

Record-breaking attempts by children can become memorable personal triumphs but also run the risk of turning to tragedy — with the inevitable recriminations for having allowed it to happen.

In an editorial Tuesday, the Dutch daily De Volkskrant warned that the young sailor was unwittingly putting herself in significant danger.

"She simply does not have the experience to anticipate the problems and possible crises that await her," the paper wrote.

Solitude 'not good' for children: psychologist

Besides the physical hazards, experts also warn that being alone for so long at such a young age could hinder the child's emotional development.

"A 13-year-old girl is in the middle of her development, and you don't do that alone — you need peers and adults," said Micha de Winter, a professor of child psychology at Utrecht University.

Adults can choose to be alone, he added, "but for children it is not good."

"Particularly the absence of parents at such a crucial time of the child's development,... the risks are serious," he said.

Dekker was born in New Zealand while her parents were on a round-the-world sailing trip and spent the first four years of her life on the ocean. She was not available for comment Tuesday.

Yet speaking recently to a Dutch children's news show, she said she had been sailing solo since she was six and began dreaming of sailing around the world when she was 10.

"I asked my parents if I could, please, start now," she said.

"In the beginning, they asked if I was sure I really wanted to do it," she said. "They have sailed around the world so they know what could happen and that it's not always fun, but I realize that, too. But I really wanted to do it so my parents said, 'Good, we'll help you.' "

The trip means Dekker would have to drop out of high school and teach herself while at sea or in port. Dutch authorities have to give permission for such a plan but say such home schooling must be supervised by an adult.

Dekker's lawyer, Peter de Lange, said authorities should just let her chase her dream in her eight-metre boat, Guppy.

"There is no legal debate about her [sailing] skills," he said, adding that both of her parents tried to discourage Dekker before she won them over.