Gilad:
My daughter & I are looking forward she'll become to the age 12 y.o. to start the basic scubadiving course.
Lately, I've been bumped into the issue, diving might prevent her development at adolescence.
Can someone approve my concerns ?
Can someone direct me to specific articles on this specific topic ?
Note: I guess there are no unequivocal evidences, but I might be wrong.
The concerns are valid in that no one would like their child to be the one to validate the potential harm. There are no definitive studies because we do not experiment on children.
Anecdotally, I started diving young sans instruction and I am fine (twitch twitch).
My daughter started at 10 and has proceeded through all stages normally, my son was a little older and he is fine.
There are also concerns about a youngster's maturity, and cognitive ability; ie: can they recognize an emergency and could they deal with it?.
Overall a parent must neutrally assess their child's abilities and maturity and determine if they are ready. Instructors who work with younger divers amy be of help in this also.
What I, and others I know, have done with our kids is limit their depth and time until they have physically matured, this may obviate some of the pressure related concerns that are out there.
If you are going to dive with a child, be prepared to focus on them almost exclusively, you may wish to treat diving with a child as a solo dive as they may not be able to assist you if you have a problem.
Advantages to diving with your children:
They are exposed to something most of the world never sees
They are not hanging around a mall or parked in front of a video game
They are not hanging around with unknown hoodlums in an unknown location (if on a dive boat you KNOW the hoodlums and hooligans on board)
When underwater with you they cannot speak and must be near you
It is one of the greatest experiences in the world to tool along underwater with your children and watch them as a new world of experiences opens up for them
