why are there very few young divers?

[Lorenzoid]

Ironically, pre-computer, people were often passive consumers of televised & print (e.g.: newspapers) media. On the Internet, whether in comments sections related to articles, or e-mailing the author, or discussions on online boards such as this one, people can actively engage and contribute, not just consume, and their views & input can become part of shaping the message.

Part of what's engrossing about the modern online experience is that you can have input into it.

Richard.

Interesting perspective, Richard. But a question is whether the "input" that people provide via the "modern online experience" is often more superficial than the manner in which people were engaged with activities pre-Internet? My guess is that thoughtful discussion boards like SB are the tiny minority in the sea of on-line drivel. Maybe that's why we don't see a lot of young people engaging in discussions on SB. (Kudos to those of you who do.) Posting pictures of one's cat on Facebook and commenting on news articles seem fairly mindless to me on the spectrum of engagement.

 

[scubafanatic]

Diving is expensive for everyone except those who live on coasts near good diving (or who are crazy enough about diving to think a quarry or lake is enjoyable), because it's the cost of TRIPS that's the major component of the cost of diving, not gear or certification. Every time I go diving, it's somewhere in the range of $1,000 or a bit less for a long weekend in the Keys up to $3,000 or more for major trip. Dropping a few hundred on a new iPhone is peanuts compared to the cost of dive travel. The 20-somethings who are avid divers are largely the ones who live near good coastal diving, just as the 20-somethings who are avid skiers are largely the ones who live in the mountain states.

Agreed! For the average recreational diver, who has to fly to dive, travel expenses VASTLY exceed training/gear costs. Additonally, air travel is becoming ever more of a hassle/expense, further harming the cost/benefit ratio. I also wonder how many young people go on their first 'tropical' dive trip, come away disappointed in the sad state of the ocean/reefs these days, are totally unimpressed, and lose interest. The older diving crowd still has fond memories of what was, and may exert the extra effort to seek out the few remaining pristine/remote locations, motivated by those fond memories, young divers don't have those fond memories to motivate them.

 

[TMHeimer]

Makes sense. I moved to Northern Manitoba age 23. No interest in diving in cold dark Northern lakes, and early on who has the $ to go to the tropics? So location is very important. I got certified at age 51--had thought about it occasionally before that. If we hadn't moved to the Nova Scotia shore 8 years ago I never would've gotten certified. I did have other interests. Agree also on the costs/hassles of flying. I used to love to fly years ago--you could usually set your watch by the flight schedules. Now I hate it--it's a joke and I fly only when I have to.

 

[flots am]

I also wonder how many young people go on their first 'tropical' dive trip, come away disappointed in the sad state of the ocean/reefs these days, are totally unimpressed, and lose interest.

That's another reason for more local diving.

Locally, I can see shipwrecks from the 1800's, feed crayfish to the bass or just hang out in 20' of clear water, go nowhere and watch the fish doing their fish-thing in the grass.

Just because it isn't all pretty colors doesn't mean it's not cool to see.

It costs less for two years of local diving than it costs to fly Someplace Warm for a week.

flots

 

[agilis]

Ironically, pre-computer, people were often passive consumers of televised & print (e.g.: newspapers) media. On the Internet, whether in comments sections related to articles, or e-mailing the author, or discussions on online boards such as this one, people can actively engage and contribute, not just consume, and their views & input can become part of shaping the message.

Part of what's engrossing about the modern online experience is that you can have input into it.

Richard.

I never did watch much TV, greatly preferring radio, especially fully or partially listener supported stations like the Pacifica network and local jazz and classical music stations. I had and continue to have a great deal of input into the content and programming of several of these stations.

I still read two newspapers each day, the NY Times and the Newark Star Ledger. I email individual writers, columnists, and the editorial pages regularly. More often now than in the past because of the ease of emailing, so in that respect computer technology has increased my engagement, but I always wrote to newspapers.

In any case, all of this is not what I had in mind by active participation because all of it involves nothing more than sitting on one's butt and typing. This topic was essentially about participation in an actual sport.

I don't think discussion boards constitute much active engagement either. Those that reflect active participation in a real life physical activity are valuable primarily to the extent that they contribute to and enhance the activity itself.

Intellectual engagement is extremely valuable, but I see very little of it on the internet. Comments and banter are lots of fun, but nothing more.

 

[jazzymusicman]

I'm under 30 and so is my wife who is also a diver. All of the young divers I know are already into their careers so they can afford it. Among other young people I know, the issue is almost always money or fear. Sure there are a few that say they have no interest in it, but after seeing a couple of my gopro dive videos, they quickly change their tune to money or fear. What totally sucks is that I live in South Florida, so they have no idea what it is they are missing out on being so close to so many great dive sites.

 

[patrickrw]

I see younger divers (18-25) all the time, but that may have to do with the fact that I help teach scuba at a college. It is harder for younger people, especially college student age, to afford it. When I took my Open Water course through the college I now teach at, I ate ramen noodles for 3 months to afford the trip to Cozumel. It was worth it but I can't stand Ramen noodles now.

 

[Max Speed]

Went to the St. Louis dive show this weekend. No one brought their kids.

Went to the Chicago and Indianapolis motorcycle shows last year. Lots of parents with kids.

Scuba divers hate their kids?

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Namreg 58]

Went to the St. Louis dive show this weekend. No one brought their kids.

Went to the Chicago and Indianapolis motorcycle shows last year. Lots of parents with kids.

Scuba divers hate their kids?

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 2

No, scuba divers usually have girls and they like to keep them safe from the predators that haunt dive shows.

 

[mathauck0814]

I agree that the sea change in global culture related to technology has dramatically changed those who have been immersed in it from childhood into passive observers rather than active participants. Playing video games or Wii is not really actual participation. I think you are right when you point out that sports like dirt biking, skiing, fishing, hiking, etc. are dealing with the same decline in actual participants.

Much of this is, as you point out, due to the revolution in on-line computerized activity and the behavioral changes this has created in younger people, especially millennials. It's an extension to a frightening degree of the passive group tendencies I alluded to in my earlier post.

I use computers extensively and have for decades, but I do not play any of the games so popular these days. I'd rather be out doing things. Real things. My wife, an IT engineer, has a smart phone, but I detest the thing, and am quite satisfied with my $12 (on sale) Samsung that does nothing more than function as a phone. I use it primarily as a safety fall back, so it's usually turned off. I use a $15 per month pre-pay plan (Verizon no longer offers it) and have accumulated 1000 unused minutes, the maximum the plan allows.

I think excessive texting has had a profound and destructive influence on society, and is creating something akin to a human hive, insects quietly buzzing to one another, increasingly oblivious of the outside world, the real world, and especially the non-human natural world. Perhaps that's inevitable as the natural world vanishes and electronic simulacra provide effortlessly accessed substitutes. Effortless is a key element in all of this.

One element that has not been mentioned in connection with the smaller number of young people involved in sports like scuba is the effect of the baby boom and the proportionally much smaller numbers of young people in Western industrialized nations. The growth in sports like scuba reflected the youth explosion of the 60s and 70s, as did college enrollment and other areas strongly related to that youth explosion. As the population in these nations ages, as the youngest baby boomers move into their 50s, the activities that expanded to meet their needs have changed from scuba and skiing to medical care, plastic surgery, and retirement investments. The kids play on their computers and their smart phones and the economy rolls merrily along -- or does not, as the specific case may be.

This reads somewhere between, "damn whippersnappers" and "get off my lawn" on the spectrum of posts.