How young to start diving ?

[sealkie]

Although I teach 12 years and up I would not allow my child to be certified - so 18 - then I`d have no way to stop them - although Walters idea of a very limited number of dives I think is a good idea - I could go for that - but then I think I would wait until the kid was 16

Too much development is still going on in the body - even shallow dives are putting the person under double the pressue.

Many Many kids are too immature even at 16 to assume the responsibility for themselves let alone a buddy.

Any age in single digets is definately too young IMHO

Sorry - but to put it bluntly - allowing a young child to breath off scuba under pressure is irresponsible and could kill. If you don`t understand why - you have no business taking them in the water on scuba


Oh ... and you shouldn`t be allowed to drive at 16 either

 

[ElectricZombie]

Depends on the individual.

I would say that somewhere in the 15 - 18 age range is appropriate. Then again, there are 40 - 50 year olds who are not mature enough to dive responsibly.

 

[divemed06]

Genesis,

Correct me if I'm wrong but the type of evidence you would like to see would require a prospective study on the physiological and pathophysiological effects of scuba diving on children (5 maybe 6 years of age and up?)??? Try to get an Ethics Board to approve such a study!!! I think that Walter's perspective is a much better one in terms of advice to parents wanting to put their kids into Scuba at an early age. We have medical forms with indications and contraindications for scubadiving...not all contraindications have been proven to be cause and effect parameters...nothing is black or white...especially when it comes to diving physiology and pathophysiology. I don't think that testing our theories on our children would be a great idea!

 

[reubencahn]

Of course, without such studies we don't really know anything. That's the problem. As a parent, I can set certain limits, but are they in any way useful? I just don't know. Maybe no diving is safe for a child still growing (in many males this will be well past the age of 18). Maybe any diving within recreational limits will be fine. So I set limits based on my perception of the risks involved and the benefits accrued and live with the consequences. I do think that Larry Tate's article is overly alarmist and advocates too conservative an approach. But I'm also glad it was written. It provided me with a good antidote to the dive industry's blithe ignorance concerning possible risks. At least it delineates potential health consequences so that I, the parent, can consider them.

I also agree with Genesis that the single greatest factor to be considered is psychological. How is my child likely to react to a threatening situation and what is his appetite for risk-taking behavior? In the end, the answers to these questions may determine his survival.

Last, I do not agree that anyone under 16 or 18 is too immature to dive. I have dove with a number of children under those ages who were able, competent divers. My own son was certified at 10. He is now 11. 10 was perhaps too young. And his behavior on one dive, going deeper than our agreed upon limit, almost led me to ban him from diving. However, he never again did this. And this year, my confidence in him has grown tremendously. For diving judgment and maturity, I would put him well ahead many adult divers I have seen. And I am grateful that we can dive together. He is seeing things that few his age will see and that may well be gone before he is 18. The experience, the learning, the confidence he has gained are all invaluable. These real benefits must be balanced against the potential risks.

 

[bocho]

I think alot of you people are...............refering to these kids diving alone or with a buddy.......................

my son will not dive with out me til I KNOW HE'S READY............


and has proving himself.......many times in many different situations.............

DIVE ON FOLLOW DIVERS
:mean:

 

[ZoCrowes255]

neil once bubbled...
I think 18 ought to be the minimum age for scuba, but that's just me . Anyone who can't fully grasp the inherent risks shouldn't be scuba diving, IMO.
Neil

I have seen certified adults who can't grasp the inherent risks but 14 year olds who are some of the best divers around. The best class I have ever taught was one for teens between the ages of 12-15. They listened to me, asked well thoughtout questions and were all around excellent in the water. One boy took to diving like he had done it since the day he was born.

I've been diving since I was 11 and that was 8 years ago. How does the arbitrary magic age of 18 make you any more mature than a 17 year old?

I think that it all depends on the maturity of the child and effects on the body. Like I said I have been diving since I was a kid and have had no physical problems. However, my father limited my diving until I was 16. I am now 6' 173 pounds so it definitely has not had an effect on my growth.

I think it should be up to the individual instructor, the parent and the child.

 

[quimby]

Speaking from fossildom, I made my first tank dive when 11 and bought a well used suckamatic and converted fire bottle with harness for $40 of paper route money. I picked through Parkway Fabricators trash for strips of neoprene and made my first wetsuit. I was big for my age and quite a decent swimmer, and by 12 had conned my way on to Jersey beach wreck dives and spearfishing then the boats and serious wrecks. By 15 I had misspelled my age for a instructor class which I passed and had more dives under my belt then most posters on this board. At 16, another older friend (19),whom I had taught to dive and myself bought a dive shop and ran it for over 5yrs before selling it at the geriatric age of 22. I've done my share of "deep air" and played with he/ox and nitrox before it was nitrox before I could vote and learned hard hat and constant volume suits by climbing down a inlet jetty and using a couple of storage bottles in the back of my pickup. Now I can't even get a job for my younger son until hes 16 and my older son cannot get a savings account by his self until he is 18!!!!!
Everyone is now religious about sub 12yr olds having a helmet on to ride a bike, but yet there is no helmet law in fl for motorcycles. All I am really looking for is some reason, not anal protectionism. My fingers are worn out so off of the high horse I come, and unlike my family that didn't dive at all, I would concede to what I used at my courses 35+yrs ago, a discussion with the parents and anyone under 12 to be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
And maybe a little less protection from the boogieman and more encouragement for maturity and self confidence and responsibility

 

[perpet1]

Genesis once bubbled...
any solid science linking hyperbaric exposure to bone necrosis or any other malady that would cause particular harm to a growing teen.

However, emotional maturity is a big deal. Kids can deal with the serious nature of scuba at different ages; they are all different.

Lack of ability to handle a problem underwater without having an immediate panic reaction can kill you underwater - reliably. But what the people who argue (persusively, I might add) the "no kids should dive" point of view miss is that an awfully large number of adults have "bad" reactions to panic-provoking situations - yet they still dive!

There are people who started diving at the ripe old age of six or so, without certification of course, sometimes with their parents' active participation, and sometimes not (I know kids who "snuck" their Dad's "Spare Air" to dive for limited depths and times!)

Is it dangerous? Sure. So is swimming in a pool (kills about 1,000 kids a year), lightning (kills about 100 people a year), organized football (kills about a dozen kids a year, and maims or permanently injures thousands more, with some of those injuries being very serious), soccer (permanently injures thousands annually), boxing (ditto), jungle gyms at the local playground, etc. I think you're getting the point here by now - there is no such thing as a "no risk" physical endeavor.

Now is scuba such an inordinate risk that it deserves 'special" attention? I don't know. Statistically, though, and the answer is a resounding no - about 100 people a year cap themselves diving, and that includes people taking extreme risks in their diving activities. There is no evidence to support junior (under 18) year divers are at special risk in the accident statistics.

Your kid is more likely to be run over and killed (by two or three couple of orders of magnitude) while walking than he is to cap himself scuba diving.

Will I recommend that someone else ignore agency recommendations? No. But I also won't condemn them for doing so, as I am not qualified to judge that particular kid's maturity and understanding of the subject matter, nor am I qualified to judge that particular parent's view of the sport, risk allocation, and acceptance of the possible consequences.

Gather the data for yourself, read it, and judge as a parent where your child or children stand in terms of their ability to handle this activity.

Although I agree with what you are saying to some degree, I do not agree with your use of general statistics in this case. I would contend that if you have the number of kids diving that you have playing football you would have more severe problems with diving. You cant just say that 1000 people get hurt doing x when this is such a tiny percentage. On a percentage basis diving is a sport that is more dangerous then playing on the jungle gyms.

This is a dangerous sport relative to some of the others out there. Diving only becomes more safe when the people doing it appreciate the risks involved. MOST kids are unable to appreciate the risks incvolved and as such they are much more dangerous. When my nephew does something stupid (no I am not calling him stupid) I chalk it up to kids will be kids. When diving, Kids CAN NOT act like kids or somone WILL get hurt!

I personally do not take on a student younger then 16 and that is only after a good interview and I am confident that ther person in mature enough.

my $0.03

 

[Genesis]

Although I agree with what you are saying to some degree, I do not agree with your use of general statistics in this case. I would contend that if you have the number of kids diving that you have playing football you would have more severe problems with diving.

...do not bear this out.

Again, out of all divers, only about 100 a year manage to kill themselves. Looking at the last DAN report I could find, there were no junior diving fatalities and very few injuries.

Yes, its a serious business. So are a lot of other things that kids do. As I've mentioned, I believe that emotional maturity is the gating issue, and it is, unfortunately, not paid the attention it should be in many cases.

 

[Tommygun53]

My 6 year old daughter has taken 2 SASY classes and loves it! But I have been working with her from 2 years old to get her comfortable in the water,like getting her comfortable with putting her head underwater and blowing bubbles,bought her a nice mask snorkel and fins and worked with her on each one of these until she can clear her mask and is content to use everything,she is also in swimming classes that she begs to go to... If she ever decids to learn to dive, she will be very comfortable in the water, But i think i will wait at least until 12 to 14 years old to let her start dive training...