Success teaching younger divers????

[crpntr133]

I have been with two classes that involved youngsters your daughters age. Right now it is a50/50 split. One boy was good and scored well. The only problem that I saw was that grandpa was his dive buddy during the OW dives. After the second dive the DM noticed it and they swicthed. The other boy did ok but I would have been hesitant to take him for a dive in the ocean no matter what the depth was.

With the info that you gave with your daughter I think I would do the Discover Scuba idea and go from there. It sure sounds like she is a water person and could probably handle her own. I think the biggest factor is maturity. I have a 11 year old neice and would take her for a dive buddy anyday.

 

[underwater daphne]

i learned to dive when i was 11/12 and it was a great experience. i only ever dived with my father and since we always snorkelled a lot and he used to teach me all the signs even before i started diving i slowly learnt a lot. another thing is that he is a very experienced diver. unfortunately i've also seen some ppl leave on a boat and not come back alive, that kinda taught me how serious diving was and my father kept me on a very short leash as a buddy, mostly we held hands or stayed in very close distance.
if i had children i would love for them to dive as soon as possible, although not before 11 or 12. but only under the condition that i would be very well certified and experienced, not just owd or aowd. you're the only person they can and will depend on if it comes to a life or death situation!
so let your daughter do the course if she's really interested and look into doing efr and rescue yourself before her course, it really opens your eyes.

 

[Xanthro]

Certification in rescue diving is certainly a goal I have. But more importantly, I think I need a lot more experience. Darn, it looks like I'll just have to dive more .

And show this thread to your wife, so she will understand just how vital and important it is that you dive more. :10:

Throw on your BCD and say, "Honey, I'm doing this for the sake of our daughter."

Xanthro

 

[jbd]

you're the only person they can and will depend on if it comes to a life or death situation!
so let your daughter do the course if she's really interested

and what if the life and death situation involves the parent having a problem :06: Will the child have the emotional and mental maturity to handle the crisis :06:

It is interesting to note that it is assumed the child will have a problem. This would seem to indicate that children learning to dive isn't a really good idea.

 

[Wydoin]

Hello all, You have all given me alot to think both for and against letting my daughter take a class. Just to clear things up I was SSI certified by my Fire Dept. 10 years ago. I am currently certified in Stress Rescue, Limited Vis, Search and Recovery and also an Equipment specialty. I have "offically logged" almost 50 dives and will obtain my "Master Diver" c=card this month. I actually have more dives than that I just don't log alot of the puddle dives we are required to do at work. My main job at work while diving is Search and recovery so I am super aware of all the safety issues that we are talking about. Safety for my daughter in a dive situation would be of the upmost priority; and you can bet she wouldn't be more than 1 kick away from me under water. You have all brought out some very interesting and thoughtful issues most definatly. I have untill her 11th b-day in March to ponder the idea. Like I said in my earlier post I will train with her and see how she handles situations. I am torn both ways; don't let her do it because she is too young, or let her do it to get a lifetime of enjoyment out of it keeping in mind of course the safety issue at all times. I am greatly appreciative of the ideas you all have sent me. I look forward to keeping you updated about this issue as well as ask questions of you. please feel free to post more comments about this
Your Friend
Wydoin

 

[kawboy579]

My instructor (SSI, but same deal) told me about an 11 year old kid that he had last year that not only studied and got a perfect score on his exam, and knew all the material, but was also great underwater, and now...he dives with the kid...im not an expert, but i would say that if you stay within a reasonable level of diving, what more could you want in a new diver than someone is highly motivated, eager, and at a great age to pick up new material.

 

[underwater daphne]

and what if the life and death situation involves the parent having a problem :06: Will the child have the emotional and mental maturity to handle the crisis :06:

It is interesting to note that it is assumed the child will have a problem. This would seem to indicate that children learning to dive isn't a really good idea.

no, i didn't mean it that way, only that i was under the impression that children tend to react more irrational than adults, i don't know if this is true. but you pointed out something important as well. what if the adult has a problem?

i guess no one really knows the answer to that. what if one of 2 adults in a buddy team has a problem. that doesn't mean the other adult will be capable of helping you in a stress situation. i guess it depends on the child/adult if he/she's mentally mature enough.



you know you could always wait til she's 12 or 13 before getting her into diving. and it's only a year or 2 and you could use the time to put some money aside for the gear and the dive trips you'll be doing together.

 

[jbd]

i guess no one really knows the answer to that. what if one of 2 adults in a buddy team has a problem. that doesn't mean the other adult will be capable of helping you in a stress situation.

There is no guarantee that anyone you dive with will be able to help you should you get into trouble, however, adults generally have more life experiences to draw from that may increase the odds of them making the right choices or decisions if something does go wrong. Children by default haven't been around long enough to gain those experiences.

As an adult diving with an adult there could come a point in an emergency where I may have to abandon the victim to prevent me from becoming a victim. Would a child diving with a parent have the mental and or emotional where withal to abandon a parent to save their their own life :06: IIRC correctly there is a thread about a 14 year old girl who died waiting for her father to come out of a cavern. She ran out of air.

Just some "food for thought"

 

[AtlanticDiver]

i got my Jr. OW at 12 thru my lds. there were some kids in my class that had some problems at first but we had a good teacher. I did my dives at rawlings.

 

[underwater daphne]

would you leave your wife to die?

diving experience is soo different from life experience.
you gotta start somewhere and wouldn't it be better to start early? (early is a relative thing, that could of course be whenever).

it's very unfortunate that that girl died waiting for her parents, but it would be important to discuss these things with a child and with any buddy who you have strong feelings for for that matter.