kljenks2008
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Is it safe for a 12 year old to dive at 100 feet? He has his Jr. Open Water Diver card with PADI. If it is not safe, why.
Young divers
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Cajuncru Diver
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Age old question. Is it safe for a newly licenced 15 year old driver to operate a high performance automobile on the freeway at 80 miles per hour....Age and more importantly experience are great teachers. Maturity of judgment generally comes with both passage of time(age) and experience. There is no one right or wrong answer to this question, because some much depends upon the individual, some 12 years olds can't find their way out of a rainstorm and some 12 years olds are training to compete in the next Olympics. IMHO to err on the side of caution is to be safe!
according to most of the agency standards, he's only supposed to go to 60 feet. (I believe) its because the pressure on the body at the greater depth could cause the body harm, but i'm sure someone on here can explain it a bit better. At the age of 15, he can take the deep class and be good to 130' (according to ssi)
the maturity thing comes into play too
the maturity thing comes into play too
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The agencies be damned, there are at least two real issues:
- There is little hard and fast data, but the lawyer-shy consensus of the diving medical community is that there is some level of concern over the possibility of damage to the child's bone growth plates.
- I have met no pre-teens with the situational awareness and cool nerves that an emergency at 100 feet would require. That is the range is which I start considering dependent ascents and I don't think most pre-teens (my own included) would be ready to help me out.
I don't think it's the pressure on the body that stops the bones from growing. It's the high pp of N2 that stunts the growth of bones.
Personally, when my daughter is certified I'll limit the depths she dives to shallower than 60 feet until she stops growing and can show the maturity to go deeper. Besides, there's plenty to see above 60'.
Personally, when my daughter is certified I'll limit the depths she dives to shallower than 60 feet until she stops growing and can show the maturity to go deeper. Besides, there's plenty to see above 60'.
fisherdvm
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Not that it can't be done. It is just when bad things happen.
Do you recall a preteen boy, whose parents coaxed him into being the youngest child to cross the USA solo? As I recalled, he was flying with an experienced flight instructor. He completed half of the trip, but something bad happened, and his instructor was not able to bail him out. What was supposed to be a triumph for youth, ended in a tragic accident for both the boy and the instructor.
What impressed me most about my 12 yo son is that he is astute, and can answer most diving questions correctly. He has better grasp of the dive table than most adults do. But he has no worry, no anxiety, and no foresight - whatsoever. Which makes me wonder if in a real emergency, if he really has the ability to make a sound decision. At 100 ft, I really question if any 12 year old can make a good sound decision.
Do you recall a preteen boy, whose parents coaxed him into being the youngest child to cross the USA solo? As I recalled, he was flying with an experienced flight instructor. He completed half of the trip, but something bad happened, and his instructor was not able to bail him out. What was supposed to be a triumph for youth, ended in a tragic accident for both the boy and the instructor.
What impressed me most about my 12 yo son is that he is astute, and can answer most diving questions correctly. He has better grasp of the dive table than most adults do. But he has no worry, no anxiety, and no foresight - whatsoever. Which makes me wonder if in a real emergency, if he really has the ability to make a sound decision. At 100 ft, I really question if any 12 year old can make a good sound decision.
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Actually the concern is compromising circulation to the epiphyseal plate.
My daughter was certified at age 12, She is a very calm diver and a good diver . That said I also limited the depths at which she dove. As she became more experienced and older our depths increased. She is in college now and dives regularly with me or on her own with other groups and she is very confident in her abilities now. She now will call me after an outing telling me how things were and what they did. She even will comment on others that are new or just gaining experience and how they react to different diving situations. I believe that starting her out slowly was the best thing to do!
LeadTurn_SD
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Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) is also a concern with kids, I believe.
I believe I've read (it's been a long while, so I could easily be wrong!) that the younger the kid is, the higher the possibility is that they may still have a patent foramen ovale; also relying on my less-then-stellar memory, I believe that as many as 1 in 3 adults may have some degree of PFO... and PFO supposedly increases chances of DCS by a factor of 3.... what is it with the number "3" that scientific studies like so much, anyway?
Anyway, my three kids (ages 15, 13, 11) are certified and dive with my wife and I. All 3 are competitive swimmers (like their Mom). The oldest is on her high school waterpolo and swim team. All are great divers, and "mature" for their age and experience levels... BUT we still keep the dives easy and fairly shallow (<40 feet) when the younger kids dive with us, <70 feet when just the oldest comes along.
Safe Diving!
I believe I've read (it's been a long while, so I could easily be wrong!) that the younger the kid is, the higher the possibility is that they may still have a patent foramen ovale; also relying on my less-then-stellar memory, I believe that as many as 1 in 3 adults may have some degree of PFO... and PFO supposedly increases chances of DCS by a factor of 3.... what is it with the number "3" that scientific studies like so much, anyway?
Anyway, my three kids (ages 15, 13, 11) are certified and dive with my wife and I. All 3 are competitive swimmers (like their Mom). The oldest is on her high school waterpolo and swim team. All are great divers, and "mature" for their age and experience levels... BUT we still keep the dives easy and fairly shallow (<40 feet) when the younger kids dive with us, <70 feet when just the oldest comes along.
Safe Diving!
I don’t think anyone knows for sure what diving will do to those still growing. It may be a lot of what if’s and could be’s that they are basing the cautious restrictions on. But being cautious might just be a good thing here. Kids develop so differently I don’t think there is one set in stone answer.
As for me I don’t know what it did. I started at 14 and did a lot of deep dives around Monterey Bay. When I became a Navy Diver I was only 5’3”, just barely over 100#and still a couple of years away from drinking age on base. Several years and a couple of thousand dives later I ended up at 5’9” and 200#. So if diving does damage growth plates I guess I would have been 6’+. Now I’m going the other direction height wise. The weight is still the same but the horizon is a bit closer.
Gary D.
As for me I don’t know what it did. I started at 14 and did a lot of deep dives around Monterey Bay. When I became a Navy Diver I was only 5’3”, just barely over 100#and still a couple of years away from drinking age on base. Several years and a couple of thousand dives later I ended up at 5’9” and 200#. So if diving does damage growth plates I guess I would have been 6’+.
Now I’m going the other direction height wise. The weight is still the same but the horizon is a bit closer. Gary D.
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