10 years old scuba?

[Bogie]

There a great power presentation on scuba diving and children worth taking a look at.

www-personal.umich.edu/~lpt/kids.htm

If you copy the www above and paste it on google it will get you there where you can view or download the power point presentation.

It explained much I did not know on children and scuba diving.

I hope this helps.

 

[shogan]

Hum! I'm on a very very slow course of taking my 9 soon to be 10 year old through certification. Don't know is she's going to make it this year. Children swim down to 10-16' in pools all the time. It seems just as soon as one is able to swim down they start testing the depth they can go. And I know I started trying to hold my breath at age 8. My intent is to keep my daughter in the less than 20' for short periods.. Obviously any depth will require her being able to clear the ears.

 

[explorer08]

I know that my opinion regarding this topic is not very popular and particularly the certifying agencies will not be happy with it. But anyway - it is my honest opinion, based on my experience of more than 25 years as a diver and more than 20 years as an instructor.

Of course, scuba diving is fun. The agencies tell it to us everyday and most of us experienced a lot of fun themselves while doing it. But nevertheless, we never should forget, that scuba diving means to enter an environment which is potentially hostile to life. We only can survive there by using technical equipment und by adhering to some physical rules. And every mistake we do may end up fatal.

The physical problems for children have been very well mentioned in Post No. 2 in this thread by Walter, so I don’t want to repeat them. But one point I am missing amongst his listing. Particular in the age we are talking about here (between 10 and 14) their bones are growing very much and the heavy weight of the scuba equipment may harm them.

And of course also NJdiver85 is true when he says that the effects of diving on children are unknown, because there is simply too little information. And they will remain unknown for a long time, because – of course – we can’t use children as laboratory rabbits to get some database on these effects.

But there are some other points which should be taken into consideration.
One point is, I mentioned it above, that we have to know and to understand some physical laws for to survive underwater. And my experience is that it is very hard for children below the age of 13/14 to understand this physics and physiology stuff really, because it simply is too far beyond what they know from school at that time.
The second important point is that children don’t react as rational as adults. They tend to fear much earlier and to fear of things which never would be a problem for an adult. And because of that tendency to fear earlier and faster, they also tend to panic much faster. And this is a really big problem, because we all know, that a diver in panic is trying to reach the surface as fast as possible. And we also know that the shallow waters (down to 10m) are the most dangerous area with regard to a rush to the surface, because in that area the air volume in the lungs will double, if we are not exhaling, and so in that area we have the highest risk for a lung overexpansion injury.

When I started scuba diving in 1984 it was common sense within the agencies, that the minimum age for scuba diving was 14 years. Later on they gave up this common sense and we came to the point where we are today. In the very beginning of this process, I saw this as a great chance as well and I tried teaching children myself. But with time I found out that this was not a good idea and that the agencies promote it just for to get new customers and more certifications. So with time I decided for myself not to accept student divers below somewhere between 13 and 14 years.
Meanwhile I am happy to live in Turkey, because Turkish law prohibits scuba diving with children below the age of 14. And this law prevents me from a lot of discussions.;-)

My recommendation is, if they are really comfortable in the water, have them skin diving and snorkelling until they reach the age of 13/14 years and than they are perfectly prepared for scuba diving.

 

[moneysavr]

I know that my opinion regarding this topic is not very popular and particularly the certifying agencies will not be happy with it. But anyway - it is my honest opinion, based on my experience of more than 25 years as a diver and more than 20 years as an instructor.

Of course, scuba diving is fun. The agencies tell it to us everyday and most of us experienced a lot of fun themselves while doing it. But nevertheless, we never should forget, that scuba diving means to enter an environment which is potentially hostile to life. We only can survive there by using technical equipment und by adhering to some physical rules. And every mistake we do may end up fatal.

The physical problems for children have been very well mentioned in Post No. 2 in this thread by Walter, so I don’t want to repeat them. But one point I am missing amongst his listing. Particular in the age we are talking about here (between 10 and 14) their bones are growing very much and the heavy weight of the scuba equipment may harm them.

And of course also NJdiver85 is true when he says that the effects of diving on children are unknown, because there is simply too little information. And they will remain unknown for a long time, because – of course – we can’t use children as laboratory rabbits to get some database on these effects.

But there are some other points which should be taken into consideration.
One point is, I mentioned it above, that we have to know and to understand some physical laws for to survive underwater. And my experience is that it is very hard for children below the age of 13/14 to understand this physics and physiology stuff really, because it simply is too far beyond what they know from school at that time.
The second important point is that children don’t react as rational as adults. They tend to fear much earlier and to fear of things which never would be a problem for an adult. And because of that tendency to fear earlier and faster, they also tend to panic much faster. And this is a really big problem, because we all know, that a diver in panic is trying to reach the surface as fast as possible. And we also know that the shallow waters (down to 10m) are the most dangerous area with regard to a rush to the surface, because in that area the air volume in the lungs will double, if we are not exhaling, and so in that area we have the highest risk for a lung overexpansion injury.

I agree with all you say! but in the USA did you ever pick up a kid's back pack they use to take school work back and forth! my 11 yo's weighs more than his kit with tank and lead!!!!!!!
OK that a side having a 11yo= JOW diver son and this past week having him do his first ocean/drift dives off Florida and listening to him top side tell all his experiences,never exceeding his depth limits and staying at his side arms length on all just short dives or half runs was worth it! but some kids IMO are not up to it YES I agree! but back home on shore wreck dives as late in the year the waters warm up and shallow 10'-15' dives to view wreck remains,history,marine life I regard as truly a educational and physical sport that he enjoys.
And last as told to me by a professional marine biologist & Capt. one time kids just don't really get it as in death,the end,over & out as in video games they re spawn and come back to life but in reality they don't or will not so if you dive with your children stay close,stay shallow,practice,practice,practice before any dive trips that means get in the pool so to avoid the cattle boat rush into the water!! so with children divers stay off cattle boats IMO do only child friendly dives from small charters & DM in the water so your not task overloaded.
My 2 cents

 

[Diver0001]

.oops...

 

[Diver0001]

I have some experience training children in the 10-12 age group, not a lot, but enough to know that it's not as straightforward for kids as people think it is.

Main problems I see where the rubber meets the road are:

- a lot of ear clearing issues. Maybe 60-70% in the pool with no easy solutions. They're just physically too small for it.

- concentration, not being readily able to follow directions and/or simply robotically following rules without any thinking going on. For example,

• one young man who was able to actually *do* the table problems but was completely unable to tell me *why* he was doing what he was doing.
• one young woman who try as I might never was able to understand why a ship floats and a penny sinks.
• one youngster who when asked understood (or parroted back) that an ascent to the surface is done swimming and venting, not by inflating the BCD but then subsequently got significantly held back in the water because he did it wrong again and again and again.
• one who was literally so small that he couldn't handle the gear. He was in danger of hurting himself on the surface because it was just too heavy for him... even with a 50cf tank.
• he was also unable to do the cesa skill because his lung volume was very small and he kept ending up with empty lungs. It took him 26 repetitions before getting one that was right.
• several who understood in teh briefing that we were going to play "monkey see, monkey do" with the skills and then were unable to comprehend even the simplest of demos.
• one who was literally unable to tow his buddy on the surface. He gave up and fully expected me to ok it because he was small and he didn't feel it was important ....
• two (brothers) who literally got in a back-and-forth pushing under water because one of them kept bumping into the other.
• one who in the middle of a skill got so distracted by a fish that he literally forgot what he was doing and took off after the fish. What kind of a buddy do you think this kid was going to make?

I could go on. And like I said, I don't even have *that* much experience training children. Most of these could be worked out with time ... a LOT of time ... Which is a hint and a warning to parents who want to have their children trained for scuba. Count on it taking 3, 4 or even 5 times longer for a 10 year old to learn how to scuba dive adequately than it would take, say, a 14 year old.

- communication with hand signs can be difficult to get clear. The issue here isn't that they don't learn the signs, but that they have a tendency to delay reporting that something isn't right. As a trainer (or as a buddy) you have to be hyper-alert for things like ear problems. A child of 10-11 is completely capable of not reporting pain in the ears because... you didn't ask! In this sense, I believe that if parents want to dive with their youngsters that not only the children need training but also the adults should get extra training in how to supervise children becuase it's not like diving with mini-adults. There are special considerations for supervision, like double checking comfort etc etc.

- if I child does learn a bad habit (for example I had one that held the inflator right beside his ear to vent the BCD because he could hear the bubbles and as a result had trouble with the BCD not venting properly) then it can take a long time to get them to change it.

- on the up side, if you can go very slowly and avoid teaching them bad habits, then most kids are fairly adept at the actual diving part. Judgement and reasoning remains a big issue, especially with the 10-11 year olds, but the actual swimming and buoyancy control, etc. seems to come fairly easily from what I see.

So these are just a few observations from my own experience. As I said I don't train a lot of children (I guess I've had about a dozen or two). At the moment I'm busy with my own daughter, who is 11 (and keeps inviting her friends because they all think diving is cool....LOL). She's going to be a good diver but her training will not be conventional. I also told her that I won't certify her or take her into open water until she's 14. It would just give me the heebiejeebies to put her through a "normal" scuba course. The tempo is simply far too high for comfort, if you ask me. People say kids pick it up quickly but in my experience, they don't.

R..

 

[Hank49]

I think it depends on the child and where you are at the time. Teaching a kid from the midwest who hadn't had much water time, in rough conditions, cold, current, high surf....no.
Teaching a kid who grew up on the beach, is a strong swimmer and has calm, warm, sand bottom shallow water right in front of his house? Another story. My son was 10 and we lived on Boracay in 1999. He started diving then.

 

[leo villanueva]

well I don't know with you guys but my 12 year old kid is already a junior rescue diver. his diver NO. 1002AM6389., I understand your fears and apprehensions as a father., for I am a father myself. but we have to conquer our fear., in doing so we have to educate them in things that we fear., just like diving....guide them through it and they will enjoy the underwater world.

 

[miketsp]

..snip..
My 10 year old just got certified with PADI, and we are doing dives to 40 feet with no illl (SIC) effects.

I'm just curious how you can be sure about this.

From what I've read the effects like interfering with bone growth may only show up years later.

I'm in the "wait until 15 years old" camp.

 

[jah313]

My 10 year old did his OW referral dives last week in Negril, Jamaica followed by 35ft dives each day after that. I was a complete bag of nerves. I took video of each dive (not good video). He has always been comfortable in the water and I think that is key. The instructor and divemaster were amazing with him. Ear clearing was the hardest part and he figured it out by the 3rd day and just took his time. YouTube - Diving in Negril with my son

I watches several other young children trying to get certified and they either quit at the pool or the first time they jumped from the boat. The key is that you can not push your child. I told him that anytime he wants to quit and wait until he is older, then that is fine with me. I have never seen my son so happy!