Age Distribution of SB Members

[dmaziuk]

You had rocks?

We had to sculpt them out of digestive byproducts.

I think that explains a lot about software in general @chillyinCanada and Word in particular.

 

[Nemrod]

I predict the bell curve we see will just march like a rolling wave forward until it is half of a bell and then the tail of a bell and finally none of a bell. N

 

[Altamira]

I predict the bell curve we see will just march like a rolling wave forward until it is half of a bell and then the tail of a bell and finally none of a bell. N

I am a bit more optimistic that younger divers will join and contribute to SB as they get out of high school/college, and perhaps have more time and financial resources to continue diving. The big question will be whether or not they will develop the interest to learn and share more about their hobby. My grandson is one of the young divers that fits in the 10-19 age range, but at the present time does not have the independent resources to dive a lot, and lacks the time or interest to read through a bunch of SB posts to find the pearls of knowledge available. I send him posts I find that I think he should read, but he is not going to ferret out the information on his own at this stage of his busy life.

 

[Nemrod]

So, that is my point, when I was 12, I was certified. My friends too. We read everything we could find and pestered the library to get more, Scoured the magazine racks for Skin Diver magazine. We did not need anyone to coax us or send us pearls of knowledge because we sought it out on our own initiative. The interest was infectious at the time and explains the bump in that bell curve and why your "younger diver" needs financial resources that none of us had, yet we dove. We dove in lacks, rivers, mud puddles, not exotic trips to sunny warm places far away. I am sorry, but why is it different now? Why is there no or little interest?

N

 

[DBPacific]

So, that is my point, when I was 12, I was certified. My friends too. We read everything we could find and pestered the library to get more, Scoured the magazine racks for Skin Diver magazine. We did not need anyone to coax us or send us pearls of knowledge because we sought it out on our own initiative. The interest was infectious at the time and explains the bump in that bell curve and why your "younger diver" needs financial resources that none of us had, yet we dove. We dove in lacks, rivers, mud puddles, not exotic trips to sunny warm places far away. I am sorry, but why is it different now? Why is there no or little interest?

N

I'm not sure about your childhood and how your parents raised you, but mine were always paranoid from the news and would never allow me to be outside alone or even with friends unless I was doing yardwork with my dad. Any outings with friends had to be 1) cleared at least a week in advance, 2) only take place at a friend's home or a known location like a school 3) less than 4 hours. Everyone I know my own age or younger has similar stories unless they grew up in total farm country (and most of them don't often see the ocean and have no interest in it). If I tried to get permission to go someplace alone or outside with friends where they thought there would be even a small amount of risk, it was shut down and I was grounded. Eventually you get used to it and used to never being allowed to be outside except for a few very small exceptions, so the hobbies you take up are inside or fit within those parenting rules- games, crafts, maybe organized sports. You only start branching out and exploring when you're no longer under the paranoid thumb of family.

Plus, as someone who will be graduating college and possibly entering the job market in 3 months, I have a lot bigger things to worry about than where to dive next.

As for financial, I don't want to get into this argument again of how prices have risen, wages have fallen, and everyone at the upper end of the bell curve is ignoring the many elder divers who have already talked about having to wait decades to dive because of financial issues in previous threads. Financial difficulties are nothing new and yet constantly it is being blamed on younger divers being frivolous or lazy even by the people who had financial difficulties when they first tried to start diving. Hindsight gives you rose colored glasses

 

[Marie13]

I graduated from high school in 1987. I had a pretty free range suburban childhood, at least you until I entered high school.

I was very unadventurous for decades. People are still shocked I dive, let alone cold water.

 

[Altamira]

@Nemrod. Maybe they need a newer version of Mike Nelson and Sea Hunt. Like it or not, it is a different time, and younger divers (like my grandson) have a different mindset than you and I did in our younger years. My grandson really likes to dive, and is pretty good at it, but also has a lot of competing demands for his time and very limited funds. At this time, diving is not the love of his life, but that does not necessarily translate to having no interest or would not have an interest in SB later in his life. If I was not retired, I am not sure I would have the time to spend much time on SB either.
Edited to correct typo.

 

[Nemrod]

I'm not sure about your childhood and how your parents raised you, but mine were always paranoid from the news and would never allow me to be outside alone or even with friends unless I was doing yardwork with my dad. Any outings with friends had to be 1) cleared at least a week in advance, 2) only take place at a friend's home or a known location like a school 3) less than 4 hours. Everyone I know my own age or younger has similar stories unless they grew up in total farm country (and most of them don't often see the ocean and have no interest in it). If I tried to get permission to go someplace alone or outside with friends where they thought there would be even a small amount of risk, it was shut down and I was grounded. Eventually you get used to it and used to never being allowed to be outside except for a few very small exceptions, so the hobbies you take up are inside or fit within those parenting rules- games, crafts, maybe organized sports. You only start branching out and exploring when you're no longer under the paranoid thumb of family.

Plus, as someone who will be graduating college and possibly entering the job market in 3 months, I have a lot bigger things to worry about than where to dive next.

As for financial, I don't want to get into this argument again of how prices have risen, wages have fallen, and everyone at the upper end of the bell curve is ignoring the many elder divers who have already talked about having to wait decades to dive because of financial issues in previous threads. Financial difficulties are nothing new and yet constantly it is being blamed on younger divers being frivolous or lazy even by the people who had financial difficulties when they first tried to start diving. Hindsight gives you rose colored glasses

We were free range, rural. Rode our bicycles all over, hiked all over, took the boat out alone. No, apparently nothing like you. That is my point. But we did not have bicycle helmets, knee pads either and I will not even get into guns. Apparently very different upbringing. My parents got grey hair I am sure but our housekeepers hair fell out. Must have been a different country, perhaps a different dimension and I am in a Twilight Zone episode or something. And my parents were well educated and normal for the time. How much of these evil bugger bears that are going to get all of the precious little ones are real and which are driven by over reporting and a 24 hour news cycle. Perception and reality are not the same. Nothing that is being said changes my thought or encourages me to think that the bell curve will not march right off into nothing, could be wrong.

I do not agree with you that prices have risen if you do a little research, many things were more expensive than today. Do some inflation calculations for yourself. My first SCUBA set, which was a regulator, tank, pressure gage and a Mae West vest was $100 which today is approximately $800. Could probably do that today except today you must have a BC, a SPG, twin tanks, two regulators with isolation manifold and two of everything to be safe. Oops, I said that "safe" word. I think we were not so preoccupied with being absolutely safe.

And BTW, I went to college, graduate school and also entered the job market, was there some thinking that past generations did not? Let's get back on this 20 years from now, if this board is still here and see how it turns out. I would like to be wrong. I hope so.

N

 

[JMBL]

Well, my 2 cents on the lack of younger divers on SB (just my opinion, and seen from the other side of the pond) : when I started diving I was 19 (now 48), it cost my every penny I could scrape, my mom was dead afraid I was going to drown myself but she let me... Nowadays, what I see around me is this (I'm working with teenagers and I've got a pretty bunch of nephews and nieces) : whaaaat ? you wanna scuba dive, son ? Listen, here are a 100 bucks, go and do something less dangerous my boy. Sometimes, I DO HATE grown ups...

 

[arew+4]

Well the three Zeds I had a hand in making and raising and certifying wouldn't be caught dead posting on a site their dad is on, so when i kick it you may gain three, one for sure, he's probably lurking right now.