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My 10 year old wants to dive.
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Wisnu
Contributor
My 10 years old daughter just recenty certified for JOW on Oct. 2009. She love diving since 8 years old and had logged approx. 40 ocean bubble maker before certified. This experience plus her excelent swimming capability (she's competitive swimmer) helped her a lot during the course.
Her passion of diving and her experience during JOW can be seen on her blog:
Melati luv Diving
Since she's small - 132 cm tall, 38 kg; she always use small tank max. 10 l.
Indeed, she's is very efficient breather- after diving, she always have more air in her tank than me.
She did not panic when she had to do buddy breathing with me at 10 m depht 2 weeks ago (there's a problem on her tank o-ring).
Her passion of diving and her experience during JOW can be seen on her blog:
Melati luv Diving
Since she's small - 132 cm tall, 38 kg; she always use small tank max. 10 l.
Indeed, she's is very efficient breather- after diving, she always have more air in her tank than me.
She did not panic when she had to do buddy breathing with me at 10 m depht 2 weeks ago (there's a problem on her tank o-ring).
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My son, now 24, and my daughter, now 20, both were certified as JOW divers at age 12, prior to the age being lowered to 10. Both were very strong swimmers, were very comfortable and confident in the water, were experienced snorkelers, and, most important of all, were acceptably mature in their decision making and desire to dive.
Both became very skilled divers and great buddies and dive with me today. I don't think diving is for every young kid, but I think it is absolutely fine under the correct circumstances.
Good diving, Craig
Both became very skilled divers and great buddies and dive with me today. I don't think diving is for every young kid, but I think it is absolutely fine under the correct circumstances.
Good diving, Craig
DepthCharge
Contributor
Anyone know anything about aseptic bone necrosis?
adurso
Contributor
Bone death due to lack of blood. I assume you bring it up in relation to diving; leaving other aspects aside DCS has been listed as a cause. Commercial divers also are showing up with this. In relation to children diving the epiphyseal plates are thought to be at risk due to the effects of diving on circulation.
psychocabbage
Contributor
My 10 yr old daughter got hers.. as did my other daughter when she was 10 (now 12) and my 16 yr old got hers when she was 13/14.
My girls are like fish out of water.
I dont feel there are any rec limits on them based on age. I think we are far too into have a "nanny state" and would rather just go with the natural flow.
My kids abilities rival many adults with 3 times the dives.. but as adults, when we are tired after the dive and sitting back off gassing, my girls are diving off the top of the boat and swimming in the ocean.. they certainly have the energy..
In the end, only YOU and not the masses that frequent this board, truely know your sons abilities. You should be involved in his training (maybe as an onlooker. Here we can bring our gear and get in the pool with them while they do their thing. We normally just took pics and helped with gear and such for the students).
When it came time for open water, we had the whole crew with us and did our own dive while our daughter did her checkouts.. when she was done, we all suited up again and did a family dive.
Every year, as soon as the water temps get high enough, we start our family diving and use the local quarries for practice. The kids practice navigation and saftey sausage deployment.
Every June/July we can be found in Cozumel having a blast as a family underwater.
I highly recommend it if you feel he is up to it..
My one word of advise is this: If, after training, you do not feel comfortable with getting your gear and going into the water with your buddy who is not the DM that instructed you, you need more lessons or to ask more questions.
I tell that to all students who wish to learn to dive. I feel you should not have any anxiety about diving. If you do, resolve it before getting into the water.
All of my family is NAUI certified. I dont think it makes a huge difference but I liked that with NAUI they do have to learn a bit of navigation and the instructors we have around us (2 that we know of and have used) seem to go beyond the minimum requirements and teach a bit more than I have seen required of the PADI classes..
Good luck!
My girls are like fish out of water.
I dont feel there are any rec limits on them based on age. I think we are far too into have a "nanny state" and would rather just go with the natural flow.
My kids abilities rival many adults with 3 times the dives.. but as adults, when we are tired after the dive and sitting back off gassing, my girls are diving off the top of the boat and swimming in the ocean.. they certainly have the energy..
In the end, only YOU and not the masses that frequent this board, truely know your sons abilities. You should be involved in his training (maybe as an onlooker. Here we can bring our gear and get in the pool with them while they do their thing. We normally just took pics and helped with gear and such for the students).
When it came time for open water, we had the whole crew with us and did our own dive while our daughter did her checkouts.. when she was done, we all suited up again and did a family dive.
Every year, as soon as the water temps get high enough, we start our family diving and use the local quarries for practice. The kids practice navigation and saftey sausage deployment.
Every June/July we can be found in Cozumel having a blast as a family underwater.
I highly recommend it if you feel he is up to it..
My one word of advise is this: If, after training, you do not feel comfortable with getting your gear and going into the water with your buddy who is not the DM that instructed you, you need more lessons or to ask more questions.
I tell that to all students who wish to learn to dive. I feel you should not have any anxiety about diving. If you do, resolve it before getting into the water.
All of my family is NAUI certified. I dont think it makes a huge difference but I liked that with NAUI they do have to learn a bit of navigation and the instructors we have around us (2 that we know of and have used) seem to go beyond the minimum requirements and teach a bit more than I have seen required of the PADI classes..
Good luck!
DepthCharge
Contributor
caseybird
Contributor
I did a lot of work with 10+ year old kids doing OW certs for a very concientious dive shop. I observed a few things about very young dive candidates:
Each kid is different. If they like it, and are comfortable in the water, I see no reason to not let them dive under strict supervision. If they don't like diving, don't force them. Find a warm water resort and snorkel until the kid is a little older.
Kids don't keep track of time, depth, NDL status and air pressure. A responsible adult must be matched to each kid to monitor thier dive. I wouldn't take a 10 year old beneath 40 feet, and I prefer 30.
The biggest problems kids have is moving around with all the gear on the surface, and operating the BCD inflator. The solution for the gear problem on the surface is to make sure that gear is well matched to the student. There are smaller BCD's, and we discovered the Dive-rite transpac could be fitted well to a child. If you have a 72 cf tank it might be easier than hauling an 80.
Intergrated weights always worked better than belts, (kids have NO hips) and it helped to walk the child to the lake, than add weights in the water.
The biggest problem in the water was simply working the inflator. Smaller and weaker hands have a hard time operating the buttons. Some kids had to use both hands on the inflator. I reccommend giving your child lots of dry land practice on the inflator so he can add or release air comfortably. Practice giving him signals to add or release air.
Equalizing was often the biggest hurdle. Plan on taking plenty of time to descend.
Kids don't give you the feedback you get from adults. They might be shy about admitting a problem to an adult. Be very observant and ask detailed questions when you feel uneasy. Not: are you OK? Try: does the BCD fit? Are your ears clear? Can you see out of the mask? Give them more time to reply.
Good news, I found that kids were the ones who did their homework before the class, and really paid attention. They are used to being in school.
I took one kid for a tour of the quarry with multiple compass headings, in green water, and he stayed next to me with perfect bouyancy control for a 25 minute tour. When they get to be 13-14 years old they will be swimming circles around you. It's fun, and I love to see any kid do something interesting.
Good Luck,
Steven
Each kid is different. If they like it, and are comfortable in the water, I see no reason to not let them dive under strict supervision. If they don't like diving, don't force them. Find a warm water resort and snorkel until the kid is a little older.
Kids don't keep track of time, depth, NDL status and air pressure. A responsible adult must be matched to each kid to monitor thier dive. I wouldn't take a 10 year old beneath 40 feet, and I prefer 30.
The biggest problems kids have is moving around with all the gear on the surface, and operating the BCD inflator. The solution for the gear problem on the surface is to make sure that gear is well matched to the student. There are smaller BCD's, and we discovered the Dive-rite transpac could be fitted well to a child. If you have a 72 cf tank it might be easier than hauling an 80.
Intergrated weights always worked better than belts, (kids have NO hips) and it helped to walk the child to the lake, than add weights in the water.
The biggest problem in the water was simply working the inflator. Smaller and weaker hands have a hard time operating the buttons. Some kids had to use both hands on the inflator. I reccommend giving your child lots of dry land practice on the inflator so he can add or release air comfortably. Practice giving him signals to add or release air.
Equalizing was often the biggest hurdle. Plan on taking plenty of time to descend.
Kids don't give you the feedback you get from adults. They might be shy about admitting a problem to an adult. Be very observant and ask detailed questions when you feel uneasy. Not: are you OK? Try: does the BCD fit? Are your ears clear? Can you see out of the mask? Give them more time to reply.
Good news, I found that kids were the ones who did their homework before the class, and really paid attention. They are used to being in school.
I took one kid for a tour of the quarry with multiple compass headings, in green water, and he stayed next to me with perfect bouyancy control for a 25 minute tour. When they get to be 13-14 years old they will be swimming circles around you. It's fun, and I love to see any kid do something interesting.
Good Luck,
Steven
adurso
Contributor
I am sorry, was this a test? I am glad I was correct but did you have a question or was this a set-up to indicate that you disagree with children diving?
robint
Contributor
This is a very controversial topic discussed here on SB often. You are going to get very mixed opinions on the subject.
We got our daughter certified at 12, she was already 5' tall and close to fully grown/developed into her adult body (she was also in peak physical condition). Mentally she was far above her peers and zipped through all the techical aspects and very safe. The big issue for her was exhaustion. After an hour dive she was limp on the boat and we needed to get a powerbar and gatoraid into her to make her able to even sit up and carry on a conversation. This was at age 12. By 13 she was much better and could do more than 2 dives per day. By 14 she was like any other adult. Looking back we wish we had waited until then. Now at age 21 she has little interest in diving. At 12 she wanted to be a Marine Biologist and study sharks. Now she is a senior in college majoring in English. Kids change, their interests and abilities change. She is still an awesome diver and enjoys it about once a year at most. It just isn't her passion anymore.
A big consideration --- how good a buddy is your kid going to be for you??? We know you will be watching him like a hawk, but what if you have a problem? Is he mature enough to help you out? Is he going to just swim around without once looking at you? Is he mature enough to watch his own gauges? Or is he going to be a hazzard to other divers? I have seen alot of kids in the water and some just weren't ready for it, regardless of age.
My husband is an instructor and has seen kids 10-14yrs old who are great and others who are only doing the class because their parents insist on it. Make sure you never push too hard.
robin
We got our daughter certified at 12, she was already 5' tall and close to fully grown/developed into her adult body (she was also in peak physical condition). Mentally she was far above her peers and zipped through all the techical aspects and very safe. The big issue for her was exhaustion. After an hour dive she was limp on the boat and we needed to get a powerbar and gatoraid into her to make her able to even sit up and carry on a conversation. This was at age 12. By 13 she was much better and could do more than 2 dives per day. By 14 she was like any other adult. Looking back we wish we had waited until then. Now at age 21 she has little interest in diving. At 12 she wanted to be a Marine Biologist and study sharks. Now she is a senior in college majoring in English. Kids change, their interests and abilities change. She is still an awesome diver and enjoys it about once a year at most. It just isn't her passion anymore.
A big consideration --- how good a buddy is your kid going to be for you??? We know you will be watching him like a hawk, but what if you have a problem? Is he mature enough to help you out? Is he going to just swim around without once looking at you? Is he mature enough to watch his own gauges? Or is he going to be a hazzard to other divers? I have seen alot of kids in the water and some just weren't ready for it, regardless of age.
My husband is an instructor and has seen kids 10-14yrs old who are great and others who are only doing the class because their parents insist on it. Make sure you never push too hard.
robin
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