Out of control OW student

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goofystan:
Should I handle the situation or just leave the issue to be handled by the instructor?

Don't talk to us; talk to the instructor. It's his class, he's in charge. Tell him what impact her behavior is having on your learning experience, and then it's up to
him to solve it. It's not up to you to handle, although it might help, since you brought her to the class, to tell him that you won't be offended if he tosses her out.
 
Ontario Diver:
...and remember - no one talks with a reg in thier mouth.....

The CD at my IDC told me, that *this* exactly was why he encouraged us to tell our students to dive with a snorkel AND instill into them that when on the surface and the reg goes out - then the snorkel goes in. I'm not a big fan of snorkels for diving, but I see them as a good tool for exactly *this* task :)

Otherwise I agree: it's something that the instructor should (be able to) handle -- it's his job, not yours.
 
Thanks, for your input... I have decided to sit back and watch her make an idiot of herself. Several people mentioned that she may be acting this way because she is nervous. I think she is just a B*%&*# in general. In watching her behavior I have come to the conclusion that she is not normal. Regardless if one is nervous it does not justify such behavior/conduct. I will attempt to NOT get involved and let the instructor handle the situation, the most I will do is to encourage her to quit. I will not dive with her for safety reasons.
 
Record her outburst with your phone and play it back to her........ask her to comment. Then tell her to read this thread.
 
Just kidding-Let the instructor deal with her, thats why we make the big bucks. If she gets the boot from class send her my way, I love a challenge. I'd keep her around for entertainment.
 
goofystan:
In order to meet the minimum student requirements I asked a neighbor to take the class with me.

This could be the key as to why you're witnessing such behavior.

Has this neighbor always wanted to go scuba diving? Or is this a case of "I can't take this class until they get another person to sign up, if I loan you the money would you take the class with me?"
 
I think that maybe you are being to hard on her, as was said in an earlier post, people who are scared act strange.
Have you tried discussing this with her, reasuring her that she will be fine. Try telling her that it's ok to be scared, there are a lot of certified divers who really didn't want to do the mask removal skill, myself included. Granted I didn't react the way your friend (sorry wrong choice of word, because if she were your friend then you would be more supportive)we'll just say neighbour reacted, but people handle fear in different ways. It could be that she is embarrassed for being afraid and is in fact angry with herself. Lighten up and cut her some slack :wink:
 
We had 2 people in our class with similar problems, one did the "pop up" on mask removal (every time), and another that did the "pop up" on our open water checkout dive descent.(twice). The first person was asked to come back after class where it could be dealt with on a one to one basis, the second was asked to "sit out" the rest of testing and come back next time. I applaud both decisions, if a person can't do the task, re-evaluate and research the situation,maybe they shouldn't be diving??
 
Ahhhh, been there, done that! And... "Student X" got to remediate (a couple times), recieved some one on one counseling in regards to her outbursts and skill performance that was filled with "make up" work that included extra pool time that consisted the remedial skills. (Pain and TIME are MY friends) My bullheaded weak-link DID "see the light" and went on to become a pretty strong diver after she discovered that I am far more stubborn than she.

Peer pressure Can be a fine thing in regard to comments like "Do you mind not doing XYZ, I'm trying to learn XYZ... Peer pressure is contagious and often effective.

As far as your Instructor being nice, he/she will continue to be nice until he/she feels it's time to cease being nice. This depends on the issue. Every instructor has their "hot buttons" which I'm sure your friend MAY soon discover. Don't let your instructor's sweet disposition fool you, Instructors don't get there with the wool over our eyes and hand holding lasts just so long. We're looking for students that are uncomfortable, scared, argumentive as such are more often the signs of stress in a student who is fighting a battle of reason over "skill X" or just plain SCARED. If I had to make a hard pressed guess, your instructor is watching this student closely and is formulating a plan to 'train" this student to overcome the issues with the skills she's hanging up on and flipping out over.

She might be really spun out over mask clears (Guessing here as I am not there), some students have real issues with nose breathing at the wrong moments and that sensation of water up the snout and freak them out in a huge way, and... once fear sets in, well... Fear feeds the imagination, even a midly scared student can and often will become very unreasonable, even down right nasty. Should the issue simply be that a tornado hasn't dropped a house on her yet and the ruby red slippers remain to be recovered, rest assured that the instructor will be addressing THAT as needed.

You have the ability to speak to her yourself about how her actions impact your experience with the class and of course, it won't hurt to encourage her.
As far as her issues in the class, I'm sure the instructor will be dealing with her very soon.
 
Well...she got "sick" and missed her last pool session. She says that she is going to make it up. It was pretty nice not having her in the last pool session and the OW dives. I spoke with our instructor whom seemed relieved that she was not in class. The instructor informed me that if it were any other instructor she would have been gone along time ago. So why he put up with her conduct knowing that any other instructor would have dismissed her is a mystery...I would love to be a fly on the wall if and when she goes to her last pool session and OW dive.
 

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