Question re: families that dive

[garyfotodiver]

My experience... My 17 year-old daughter certified when she was 12. Except for an complaint about an ill-fitting BC, I was not involved with her classroom or closed water training. We did watch the video and work out the chapter questions together. She wrote answers on one paper and I on another.

We were on the same boats for her check-out dives. My buddies, the instructor and the boat driver, warned me away from helping her in any way.

As a result of all this, I realized that I needed some advanced training so I did SSI Stress/Rescue & AOW.

She doesn't dive now, but I hope that she will resume it sometime. I have a 10 year-old who cannot wait until she is 12, the minimum age in my family for training.

Good Luck!

 

[DeputyDan]

My daughters certified at ages 12 and 14.

I made sure that they dove without me with adults I trusted (Like Herman on this board)

This gives the kids an opportunity to continue to learn and lets the parent loosen up.

My kids are both AOW and Nitrox.

They have not taken Stress/Rescue and I won't force them to - I have!

 

[Stu S.]

My daughter has a good swimmer and snorkeler before she started diving at age 16. She took naturally to it, and had good skills from the start.

Would you rather have:

Your 17 year old daughter taking a night dive with you at Jupiter

-or-

Driving around Orlando with a bunch of punks?

 

[alibi 2]

I think your pretty normal in todays climate...My hubby and I met each other looking for dive partners...we were both experianced divers when we met...later we married and even later had a son..we both are protective parents..when our son was 6 months he began swim lessons..he was snorkeling and abalone diving by 8 and he took his basic scuba at 12...my husband went thru the class with him while I sat on the beach with binoculars and watched(a real basket case)....we have all enjoyed many adventures as a diving family...we are all very close... our son is now 21 and the tables are reversed as he is overly protective of us...

My hubby is a dive instructor, Im a master dive who is working at my AI cert., son is advanced and will be taking his rescue (I'll take the class again with him and it is taught by hubby)..so he can begin working for his DM or AI....

We all work hard at safety....it is very important to us to keep each other safe to enjoy diving...mistake can cause lives... I think that when you see them become compedent divers you'll relax more...but my suggestion is that diving is something they enjoy and want to do...don't pressure them into diving if they don't like it or feel comfortable in the water..

 

[Cacia]

let the leash out just long enough to see what mistakes they are prone to make and then you can guide them.

the goal should not be to avoid mistakes, or they will make them all as freshmen at college

....and we know what that looks like, right?

you should be on a steady program of chipping away at the life lessons, not avoiding them, IMHO.

Will it be messy? probably at times, but embrace the opportunity or you will not be the one influencing them and you might delay their "growth".

...and on the diving, don't wait too long because soon they will possibly be not so eager to hang with you as much.

 

[DiverBeth]

At the beginning of the summer my 18 yr. old got certified. We spent the summer diving together including a liveaboard. He got in a lot of diving and has become a really good diver. I got over my over protectiveness. My younger son, 15, got certified at the end of the summer so we haven't had much of a chance to dive though I'm not as over protective as I first was with his brother, but until he gets more experience I'm sure I'll still be a little over protective.

I'm glad they're both certified and we can all dive together. I'm happy that they want to dive with me. The older one called me up a few weeks ago when he had a few days off from school and asked if we could go diving at the local quarry. I've found my sons make good dive buddies but I know they'll want to find other buddies to dive with. But then that's part of having your kids grow up.

 

[northen diver]

I have a wife and 2 girls, ages 12 and 14. I am a new diver- no one else dives yet, but I’d like for us to be a diving family.
I won’t say that I am “over” protective, but I am very protective. For example, when we go out to do something as a group, I have to know where everyone is at all times and know what they are doing, who is around them, etc. Otherwise I am VERY uneasy.
So, to the wives, husbands, mothers and fathers- when you dive with family, do you worry, to an uncomfortable degree, about their safety?
This isn’t a HUGE issue for me, but an issue none the less. I also wonder that, as I learn more about diving, and as I gain confidence in our collective skills, if this will become less of an issue.
Thanks for any input,
Spencer

Spencer: Absolutely.......I have three sons 17, 15, 13 and a wife and we all dive together. Two of my sons and myself had taken the SLAM course and the same two sons had taken the silver classes. Myself, wife and the two olderst boys are also certified lifegaurds (ARC, YMCA and ALA). I took a DM course a few years back. I dive with a 19 cu pony bottle. Even with all of this, I still worry and I WILL know where my children are at all times when we are away diving. On the same token, my wife and kids know where I am at also. I think it is not only being safe, but common curiosty for each other. My youngest boy will be taking a ICE diving class in Feb and I will worry. My oldest boy leaves for the USGC in May and I will be doing some more worrying. But such is life.........

 

[Charlie59]

What a great way to share the outdoors with your family. Just remember;

1. Diving is safe when done right so teach your children to be safe divers

2. Your level of comfort will increase with your experience and training. Get that Rescue diver cert so you have an organized way to think about problems.

3. HAVE FUN when diving with your kids. Like sharks smell blood in the water, kids sense parental anxiety in family activities and it can lessen their fun and enthusiasm for an activity.

We all worry but it doesn't help to change much (if anything).

 

[rhephburn3900]

I have three girls, aged 27, 17, and 14 I am 50 and have been diving since 1987.
My oldest is a advanced diver, my dive buddy until she moved to another province. My youngest one will take it up, when she finds the time from her busy social life, and the seventeen year old ,only goes near the water if Boys, a beach, or a shower are involved. The kicker is that my wife is frightened of the water, so my southern vacations are always a balance- 75% with the family and the rest for diving. I am looking forward to a dive holiday, sometime in the future.
R.H.