Does this make sense to any of you?

[Papa_Bear]

What about possible damage to the children's epiphyseal plates?

Then no one, including yourself, should have gone to depth before 25! You started at 6 or 7 and are you demonstrating growth plate problems? Or mental impairment? "Today I am a man" 13? Prolonged exposure? Maybe but the stats are still only therory!

 

[Thalassamania]

Then no one, including yourself, should have gone to depth before 25! You started at 6 or 7 and are you demonstrating growth plate problems? Or mental impairment? "Today I am a man" 13? Prolonged exposure? Maybe but the stats are still only therory!

Only theory, but still ... standard of practice of the community, is something that may be reasonably scrapped on an individual, informed consent basis, but irresponsibility as presented by the Daily News (what else is new?).

 

[crpntr133]

They probably had oxygen in their tanks as well. I agree believe half of what the media tells you.

 

[Irregular]

I saw this happen 2 weeks ago in GC. Student was a little older- 18 or 19- but final check out dive was a wall dive. My computer showed 102' and new diver was very close to same depth. As Papa Bear said, it was under supervision of a competant instructor. Fun dive for all. It sure would be sad if this new diver had gone to GC, got certified, and was not able to see the walls that Cayman is famous for. Too bad I had to get certified at Ginnie Springs.

 

[vladimir]

This discussion reminds me of every thread in the accident forum, where people implore others to "wait for the facts" and to "not speculate". This article, whether 100% factual or not, is certainly plausible. So why not have a constructive discussion on the issue of slightly trained children diving to 96 feet, hypothetically or actually, and let somebody else start a thread on media accuracy.

 

[emttim]

Honestly, if the person is under close supervision, why is it such taboo for them to dive beyond what you guys seem to have picked out as specific depth limits, experience limits, etc.? Where's your citations, sources, etc. that prove these so-called limits are anything other than your own opinion? How about safety records? Scuba diving is one of the most accident-free sports in existence; if this sort of thing was as rampantly dangerous as you say, then I doubt that would be the case. I'm sure there are operators that do put people at risk and unnecessary danger, however, there's idiots in ever industry so I don't see why you should vilify this particular case.

I can't comment on the possible damage to the body and/or development of a child at depth since I don't have the necessary medical knowledge to have an opinion on it (and ironically, most of you guys don't either, yet you still have an opinion on it), so I'm not going to go there, but I don't see why people should be branded as clueless and being taken advantage of simply because they got to do some good diving for their certification dives. Hell, I'd rather dive in Belize or Grand Cayman in tropical waters with great vis to get certified versus the 4-6 foot surf, 3-5' vis, and strong surge that I had to deal with in Monterey. Would I dive 150 feet in a blue hole or 96 feet off a wall in the GC? Not only no but **** no! I don't feel like free falling underwater because I don't have control of buoyancy (and if anyone said they did during open water, they're an *******). However, that's my choice to make, and those people made a choice to do those dives, so leave them alone. This particular story may be different because kids don't know better, but once someone's an adult, they have the responsibility to make their own decisions so why not let them?

 

[vladimir]

I can't comment on the possible damage to the body and/or development of a child at depth since I don't have the necessary medical knowledge to have an opinion on it (and ironically, most of you guys don't either, yet you still have an opinion on it

Certainly the ability to read would allow you to form an opinion on it. There are published articles on the subject. It won't be an authoritative opinion, but it won't be worthless either. It may surprise you to know that people with the necessary medical knowledge gleaned much of it from reading.

 

[emttim]

Certainly the ability to read would allow you to form an opinion on it. There are published articles on the subject. It won't be an authoritative opinion, but it won't be worthless either. It may surprise you to know that people with the necessary medical knowledge gleaned much of it from reading.

Really? Excellent! Then I suppose I can go out and just read a bunch of books and have enough medical knowledge to have an informed opinion on any topic, no matter how advanced, without even any training or practical skills used? Wow, this reading thing sure is powerful, I wonder how long it'll be before certifications and licenses are a thing of the past...

 

[vladimir]

If you do start reading, Tim, your first stop should be a dictionary. Look up "authoritative" and reflect on the difference between a layman's opinion and a licensed professional's. They are not the same, as I alluded to in my prior post. Nevertheless, laymen have to make decisions every day, frequently without consulting experts. If they have read a little, they can make better decisions--and more intelligent ScubaBoard posts. Try it.

 

[scubadiver888]

My gut reaction to the article was "oh my gawd." As I read it again I realized that it doesn't say the instructor took them to the wall dive during certification. It is entirely possible the kids got AOW certified and then as certified divers did the wall dive. I can find nothing on PADI or the WRSTC websites that say the boy wasn't allowed to do this dive. The parents were there. The girl being 15 could have done the dive without the parents.

I still think this is a little crazy. I wouldn't want to do a 96' wall dive so soon after getting certified. I'm not sure I'd REALLY understand how dangerous that is.

Additionally, everyone who mentioned we cannot take the article as gospel have a valid point. Just recently people were referring to an article where a doctor said, "People over 50 should not scuba dive." I did a little googling and found the original quote. I paraphrase, "With Mr. Sutherland's medical history, HE shouldn't have been scuba diving past the age of 50." Someone quoted someone who quoted someone who quoted someone... and by the time the majority of people got the news it was totally wrong.