Age 10 Seems Too Young for Certification

[CamG]

Greetings fellow SB members Padi sets the standard at 10 yrs of age min. however it is up to the instructor to make the final call.
As others have said, I have been involved training 10 year olds who have excelled and even been leaders in the OW class.
But I have witnessed just the opposite to and some are plainly not ready to do it at 10.

My son is a perfect example great kid just mentally not all there at 10 to handle the decision making.
NO problem he is going to be 12 and starting to ask about it again so we will break out the books and hit it this winter.
It really is case specific and depends on each individual person and not necessarily on age either!
Wow, is all I will say as I have been in the quarry running into some of the OW students!
Their instructors seem to be extraordinarily stressed for obvious reasons!
I am not trying to bash anyone just make the point that some are not ready even when they are over 10 years of age!

Just my opinion and desire to keep everyone safe even from themselves at times!

CamG Keep diving....Keeo training....Keep learning!

 

[Rhone Man]

I started diving at 9, in the days before BCDs and alternate second stages. I even did a few dives with no SPG and an old J-valve. Was it smart? Probably not, but no harm no foul.

This Saturday my 10 year old son will hopefully finish his OWD. I am happy that he has developed the skills to dive in a friendly environment under supervision, but there is no way I would take him the places that my Dad took me as a young boy.

Not all shoes fit all people. Make your own decisions based upon your own assessments.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

It depends on the kid. I know some 20-year olds I would consider too "young" to take up diving.

My only experience teaching 10-year olds was in a pool, with their parents in the water (both divers, obviously) ... and it was a lot of fun. I recently certified a 12-year old girl, and discovered that she was capable of a great deal more than I had thought she would be. Her final OW exercise was to bring her "unconscious" dad up from 20 feet and tow him to the beach ... which she did easily. I think it never occurred to her that it was supposed to be hard.

Given the right approach, I think most kids are capable of doing more than adults give them credit for ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

This article is not inciteful, however.

Actually I think it was inciteful ... but not very insightful ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[ScubaGypsy]

I have three boys that were certified when they were 13, 11 and 10 respectively. That was 6 years ago and over 200 dives for each since. They each also progressed to PADI Master Scuba Divers and were NSS-CDS cavern certified. Our family diving has included New England, Canada (Tobermory and Lake Ontario), North Carolina and Florida among other exotic areas such as Hawaii and the Caribbean. All 3 boys are still active divers as the oldest son went to a commercial diving school, the second son is working towards an Ocean Engineering degree and the youngest boy is still actively diving in New England as I recently procured a used drysuit to extend his season. The older two boys are currently living in Key West and are planning to begin PADI DM training this spring.

The adventures that I have had with my boys can never be replaced. The training and experiences that the boys have received has benefited them in all aspects of their lives including confidence, environmental respect and a deep love of the marine environments.

It takes a love and comfort in the water for anyone to enjoy diving. All 3 boys actually snorkeled in our backyard pool before they could walk. Each had participated in swimming training and swim teams from infancy through high school. We did not surpass their training limits such as 40' or less until they were 12 years old. The progression of their dives has always been dependent on their training and comfort levels.

Marty Snyderman had a recent article in Dive Training magazine (either October or November 2010) concerning recent dive experiences he had with a family including their 10 year old daughter. It is worth a read before passing arbitrary judgment on the negatives and start to appreciate the positive aspects that diving has on the formible years of their lives.

Just as not every 10 year old is ready to become scuba certified, it also requires enlightened and skilled instructors to work with children. Most instructors are not able to relate to the children as it takes a different understanding and skill set to ensure the seriousness of the training and yet keep the passion and fun.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

His only flaw is that he tells it as it is without any sugar coating.

This is always a euphamism for someone who's very opinionated and not much interested in listening to what anyone else has to say (unless they're of the same opinion).

He doesn't care much about agencies so desperate to make money and them lowering their training and/or age standards.

Although it is always your choice to choose what is best for you and your kids but you should study his point of view very carefully.

Why? We already have a handful of equally-experienced and gifted people on ScubaBoard who are rather vocal about the same subject. Most of us have read their opinions over and over and over ... and they're about as uninterested in any different opinions as your friend is.

It should be noted that NAUI still has the minimum age for training children at 12 years old.

I am a NAUI instructor ... and proud of my association with NAUI ... and will be the first to admit that although I understand their reasons for the policies they make, I don't always agree with them. I always follow them when I'm teaching ... but I don't always believe that they are in the best interest of their members or students.

Agency policies are driven as much by liability concerns as they are by any more rational reasons that may need to be considered.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Just as not every 10 year old is ready to become scuba certified, it also requires enlightened and skilled instructors to work with children. Most instructors are not able to relate to the children as it takes a different understanding and skill set to ensure the seriousness of the training and yet keep the passion and fun.

Roger that ... before I became a scuba instructor I also spent some years teaching skiing to 7 through 11 year olds ... and before that coaching hockey for 5 through 8 year olds. Each of those groups is going through a different development cycle ... and you cannot successfully train them using the same methods you use on adults, and in both of those previous activities I knew instructors who were excellent at training adults but were horribly suited for teaching kids.

The same applies to young scuba students. Although you use the same curriculum, how you present it needs to be tailored to the manner in which these young people think, and how they "see" things ... otherwise they may be able to regurgitate what you tell them, but they won't truly understand it.

I enjoy teaching kids ... they're enthusiastic, don't understand the meaning of fear, and often learn things quicker than their adult counterparts. But you have to understand how they think. For me, that's always been easy ... my ex-wife claims it's because at a certain level, I'm the same "age" as the kids are ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Guba]

1. I do not disapprove of instructors/parents that certify or want their children certified at a young age.
2. I do believe that parents/instructors must be VERY VERY careful and have a spine of titanium when it comes to training youngsters to dive.

That said, I have only a few other observations.

I don't have a problem with training 10 year olds to dive AS LONG AS THEY are mature and of significant ability to do so. As pointed out, there are those who can rival many adults in learning and performing the skills. What I DO have a problem with is considering them "full buddies". While it has been said that a 12 year old girl (thanks for the observation, Bob) CAN have the ability to rescue a full sized adult, would we consider that that is the norm? Likewise, there are those ten year olds that have the emotional stability and maturity to handle crisis situations and do well, but again...is it the norm for kids that young to handle intense, potentially life-threatening situations as well as an adult or even a 12 or 14 year old? I would venture a guess (based upon decades of teaching thousands of youngsters) that the AVERAGE 10 year old is not quite ready. There are exceptions, of course, and there's the rub...the vast majority of parents don't seem to accept the idea that their child is NOT the exception. That's why I say that an instructor must have discipline of steel to deal with those parents and decline to certify those kids they do not think are ready.
Finally, I fear I must beg to differ that it's only the physical and decision-making issues that need to be considered. I feel one must also consider the psychological aspects of a child diving with a parent. Heaven forbid that something horrible should happen, but they do. Should the parent take a DCS hit, have an embolism, or...worst case...die underwater with the child as the buddy, and the emotional and mental pressures would be enormous. There is the risk that the child would forever think that it was in some way his fault and that he should have been able to do more. Is a 10 year old ready to handle that? I'm not sure adults can do it, so all I would ask is that a parent consider very carefully before making a child their sole partner. I would much rather see the youngster join an adult buddy pair in a "team of three" until they have grown up a bit.

(afterthought...As for determining whether a child is of sufficient maturity to make solid decisions within their training, one might use this test: At what age would you trust that child to INDEPENDENTLY handle a loaded firearm--after receiving the proper training, of course? That's a pretty good gauge of whether you think they are ready to make sound decisions concerning safety.)

 

[Blackwood]

I think it's really funny when people get so hung up on arbitrary things like age. No two people mature at the same rate. Those mentioned in the OP may be slow to mature (at least physically).

Really, is there a substantial difference between 10 and 11 or 12 (years old)? I'm not a physician, but from my lay point of view, there's not. Somewhere around that age range occurs an objectively recognizable physical and mental change: puberty. That, to me, would be a better barometer than age.

Policy makers use age because of its ease, not its efficacy.

 

[Dr Neil]

I can argue either side of the age minimum coin. Some food for thought:

• Why the rush to train and certify?

• Many dive operators will not allow divers under a certain age to dive. (If you plan to dive with a child under the age of 15, call ahead to the dive operator.)

• What opportunities will the child have to keep current and learn new skills?

• Will the child have opportunities to relate diving to their academic studies? Find a school assignment, project or presentation where the child can use what they learned.

• Ask the child why they want to learn to dive. Have them put it in writing.