Is it dangerous?

[Walter]

but what are the health problems? Do they have to do with growth?

They were bone development issues. She posted it on the Diver2Diver (possibly Diverlink) board back in '97 or '98. Her family had a resort on Roatan, but I'm not recalling her name or the name of the resort. I don't remember the details.

 

[sasscuba]

I started at age 12 and was certified at 14 doing dives in excess of 100 feet. I am now 5'10 and 250 lbs. I blame scuba diving at my young age on my fat belly today!

 

[Wildcard]

I think people are missing the point, kids can do it but they may be at risk for more damage if they get hit than would an adult.

 

[Walter]

Even if it's entirely safe, why take a chance when we just don't know?

 

[ChrisA]

No one knows. It could be completely safe...or it could cause him problems. I took a cautious approach when I taught my 13 year old son to dive. I allowed him 2 dive weekends per year and limited his depth to 40 feet. Thos are totally arbitrary, but I was comfortable with the concept.

I would strongly argue that diving only two weeks per year is very dangerous. It's about the worst thing a diver can do. There is no way to maintain skills with such infrequent diving. PADI even recommends taking a "refresher class" if it has been 1/2 year sinse your last dive. If you want to limit the risk, limit the depth but he'd be much better off diving every couple of weeks year round then only twice a year. At the twice a year rate he will remain a "novice" forever.

Airplane pilots have a requirement to fly so many takeoffs and landing within a given period or they must fly with an instructor again. I'd like to see this become the norm in diving too. Maybe a rule that you need to be supervised by a profesional if you have not done 6 dives in the last 6 months or something along those lines.

But in 6 months even followign PADI's minimalist guidelinds you's be due for a refresher class.

 

[Walter]

I would strongly argue that diving only two weeks per year is very dangerous. It's about the worst thing a diver can do. There is no way to maintain skills with such infrequent diving. PADI even recommends taking a "refresher class" if it has been 1/2 year sinse your last dive. If you want to limit the risk, limit the depth but he'd be much better off diving every couple of weeks year round then only twice a year. At the twice a year rate he will remain a "novice" forever.

Airplane pilots have a requirement to fly so many takeoffs and landing within a given period or they must fly with an instructor again. I'd like to see this become the norm in diving too. Maybe a rule that you need to be supervised by a profesional if you have not done 6 dives in the last 6 months or something along those lines.

But in 6 months even followign PADI's minimalist guidelinds you's be due for a refresher class.

First, I don't consider PADI an authority on anything except marketing. Second, I did review skills with my son before we went diving.

 

[scubatoad]

My son was certified at 10 and is now 12. We will keep him at 60' or less other than for very brief trips lower. We will not allow him to go anywhere near the NDL limits and that often means that a second dive is cut short or skipped entirely. We stress the safety stops and make sure to take every precaution. We will soon be nitrox certified and he will be using Nitrox and diving the air tables for an added safety margin. I consulted my PHD (also a diver) and we discussed the potential problems and reached a consensus on what risks we were willing to take. Others have gotten away with a lot more and yet others have not been as lucky. We are happy with a more conservative approach.

 

[ChrisA]

Even if it's entirely safe, why take a chance when we just don't know?

The counter argument to this is that if it were unsafe we would be seeing problems. People have been diving for more than 50 years now. Two of my local dive shops are more than 50 years in bussines now. Many of there former teen students now have kids of their own. If there was aproblem we'd see it.

OK, maybe there is a problem but the effect is to small to measure or notice. You could argure that every hour spent in the water is an hour not spent doing something far more dangerous like riding a bicycle or playing football or watching TV all of which do have observed and measurable bad results o the net effect is positive. It's like the argument that while some airplanes due crash flying is much safer then not flying because cars are so much more unsafe then airplanes

And then you have to look at the total, big picture over a person's whole lifetime. Maybe getting a kid interrested in some outdoor activity will prevent some health problems later at age 60+

 

[Jon-boi]

I am not a doctor or anything like that so take this thought with as much salt as you want....

There is a risk from diving at any age. Certain factors come into play in making some people more or less susceptible such as age, fitness, experience. A younger persion (i.e. kids) may have heaps of experience but the age would still be a factor. There is no set rule, everyone is different. What is acceptable to one would not be to another.

It seems that yes there may be concerns to consider but don't you do that everytime _you_ dive?


Let em dive, but I'd watch them carefully, make sure they don't bust any depths
/times and are perhaps even more conservative than the tables/computer allow for - this life can be too short to worry all the time about the what ifs....!

Happy (and safe) diving!

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

First, I don't consider PADI an authority on anything except marketing. Second, I did review skills with my son before we went diving.

:lol: That is just too funny.