Knfmkr
Registered
Here's a collection of my thoughts after having finished the confined and open water dives for certification with my 12 and 13 year-old sons (PADI).
We had a couple teen girls and another boy in our group and found that the comments below seemed to apply to both genders. And these are kids that were fairly motivated.
Kids lose body heat pretty quickly/easily. Even with the water temp at 79 degrees, I ended up having my boys use a 2.5mm shorty under 5mm full suits, along with a hood and (by the end) 5mm gloves. They were warm - even when we crossed the thermocline down at 25 feet. The girls had hoods and no gloves and were just fine. Gloves made doing gear changes more difficult so I had them take them off for skills now-n-then. Hoods also complicated equalizing.
You have to be very patient with kids' ears. They seem to be very hit-n-miss as to whether or not they'll equalize. For sure, going up-and-down a lot made things worse. Starting shallow and "working our way down" slowly worked better than dropping straight down.
At the bottom, the kids can't help themselves from wanting to go exploring. For my final dive I had both my sons as my buddies and a "team of 3 buddies" was twice the work...for me.
Plan on scrubbing/defogging masks often. I had no issues with mine (*shrug*) while one kid had constant fogging despite whatever we did...and a couple others kept pulling their masks off fogging them on their foreheads.
Help kids learn to distinguish between "discomfort" and "pain". Discomfort is your suit not fitting you exactly, pain is the circulation being cut off because your glove straps are too tight. There was a bit of whining about fins not fitting right, wetsuits being uncomfortable, gloves making things harder, and so on. And yet, at the end of the day they had a great time and adjusted to the circumstances.
Removing/replacing weights is pretty tough for kids. Had one almost give up on it. Some calming words, encouragement and instruction....was able to get it.
Kids are very resilient and seem to be less affected "mentally" by things that bother adults. For example, removing/replacing my mask was a challenge for me from years of circle-breathing habits interfering with keeping myself from breathing in/out through my nose once my mask is off. They were, in general, less nervous about the "scary" stuff like the "out of air" training, doing a CESA, etc. They just did what they were told, trusting their instructor. (something harder for adults to do....LOL)
Swimming ability was not a factor in scuba ability. My 12yo was on a competitive swim team for a few years and had no advantage over any others that were simply "comfortable in the water".
While generally speaking the kids are supposed to be able to do everything themselves, it's ok to help out - especially with heavier items...something you would probably help them with out on your own dives anyway. They need to "know their gear"...don't shortcut that. But helping them find buckles on their BCD....or re-hanging their AAS...helping with wetsuits...and so on...is just being a good buddy.
On the flip side, one of the hardest things to do as a parent is to let your kids be "just another student" in class. Just do it.
The book work came to the kids much easier/quicker because they are used to being in school. The new PADI format is very smooth. Watch the videos and follow along with the book, doing the reviews at the end of each section. That part went well. All the kids passed the tests except for one that struggled with the dive table exam. But a couple nights of "homework" and he retook it, getting a 100%.
Bathroom breaks are inevitable. Water/snacks are important - even during classes.
One kid in a class of adults doesn't disrupt the flow of class. But a class of kids can really slow things down.
If I could do it over again, I would work ahead of time with them on the dive tables. I would also spend more time with them in the pool with snorkels and masks learning how to take them on/off under water...as well as learning to equalize swimming down to the bottom of the pool - all before taking the classes. That would have helped things go smoother/quicker.
That's all I can think of for now.
The boys were excited to be certified and they're already planning a summer of dives.
Thanks for reading and hopefully someone will benefit from these tips.
We had a couple teen girls and another boy in our group and found that the comments below seemed to apply to both genders. And these are kids that were fairly motivated.
Kids lose body heat pretty quickly/easily. Even with the water temp at 79 degrees, I ended up having my boys use a 2.5mm shorty under 5mm full suits, along with a hood and (by the end) 5mm gloves. They were warm - even when we crossed the thermocline down at 25 feet. The girls had hoods and no gloves and were just fine. Gloves made doing gear changes more difficult so I had them take them off for skills now-n-then. Hoods also complicated equalizing.
You have to be very patient with kids' ears. They seem to be very hit-n-miss as to whether or not they'll equalize. For sure, going up-and-down a lot made things worse. Starting shallow and "working our way down" slowly worked better than dropping straight down.
At the bottom, the kids can't help themselves from wanting to go exploring. For my final dive I had both my sons as my buddies and a "team of 3 buddies" was twice the work...for me.
Plan on scrubbing/defogging masks often. I had no issues with mine (*shrug*) while one kid had constant fogging despite whatever we did...and a couple others kept pulling their masks off fogging them on their foreheads.
Help kids learn to distinguish between "discomfort" and "pain". Discomfort is your suit not fitting you exactly, pain is the circulation being cut off because your glove straps are too tight. There was a bit of whining about fins not fitting right, wetsuits being uncomfortable, gloves making things harder, and so on. And yet, at the end of the day they had a great time and adjusted to the circumstances.
Removing/replacing weights is pretty tough for kids. Had one almost give up on it. Some calming words, encouragement and instruction....was able to get it.
Kids are very resilient and seem to be less affected "mentally" by things that bother adults. For example, removing/replacing my mask was a challenge for me from years of circle-breathing habits interfering with keeping myself from breathing in/out through my nose once my mask is off. They were, in general, less nervous about the "scary" stuff like the "out of air" training, doing a CESA, etc. They just did what they were told, trusting their instructor. (something harder for adults to do....LOL)
Swimming ability was not a factor in scuba ability. My 12yo was on a competitive swim team for a few years and had no advantage over any others that were simply "comfortable in the water".
While generally speaking the kids are supposed to be able to do everything themselves, it's ok to help out - especially with heavier items...something you would probably help them with out on your own dives anyway. They need to "know their gear"...don't shortcut that. But helping them find buckles on their BCD....or re-hanging their AAS...helping with wetsuits...and so on...is just being a good buddy.
On the flip side, one of the hardest things to do as a parent is to let your kids be "just another student" in class. Just do it.
The book work came to the kids much easier/quicker because they are used to being in school. The new PADI format is very smooth. Watch the videos and follow along with the book, doing the reviews at the end of each section. That part went well. All the kids passed the tests except for one that struggled with the dive table exam. But a couple nights of "homework" and he retook it, getting a 100%.
Bathroom breaks are inevitable. Water/snacks are important - even during classes.
One kid in a class of adults doesn't disrupt the flow of class. But a class of kids can really slow things down.
If I could do it over again, I would work ahead of time with them on the dive tables. I would also spend more time with them in the pool with snorkels and masks learning how to take them on/off under water...as well as learning to equalize swimming down to the bottom of the pool - all before taking the classes. That would have helped things go smoother/quicker.
That's all I can think of for now.
The boys were excited to be certified and they're already planning a summer of dives.
Thanks for reading and hopefully someone will benefit from these tips.
