18 yr old Instructor

[Avonthediver]

wow...open mouth an incert foot...oops!

 

[Jupiter31]

No, because at the age of 54 I don't want to take orders/instructions from an 18 year old - especially since there are other instructors, other choices - but I might well from his father. If I were 20, or 22 or 25, I might - might - feel diffferent.

As it is not something I personally need to conside (I was certified 14 years before this person was born), and you do, go with what makes you feel comfortable. We don't know this person, and he could be the exception to the rule - but not for me, solely my opinion.

An interesting excerise would be to ask him the questions posted in the "Sticky" in this forum or the one above it - "New Divers" - about questions to ask a potential SCUBA instructor(Provided by Walter) and see how he does with the answers.

 

[Divenomad]

AT 19, I was an E5 (Sergeant) in the US Army. I jumped out of an airplane breathing oxygen at an altitude higher than airliners fly at. I led five other men in a mission in a bad place doing bad things to bad people. I brought everyone home in one piece.

Right now, teenagers are making decisions under extraordinarily stressful circumstances (that is, people are trying to kill them) that have the potential to create international incidents. The main difference between ages, in my experience, is that younger people have greater faith that everyone around them can accomplish great things.

People are people, not ages. Judge the person, not the birth date.

Nomad

 

[Thalassamania]

I wouldn't train with him, but not at all because I wouldn't trust his diving knowledge and skills. A guy with enough drive to get his Instructor's at 18 could certainly teach me all kinds of good stuff.

I wouldn't do it because, physiologically speaking, an 18-year old's brain is still under construction. Specifically, the areas that assess risk are known to be underdeveloped until about 20. I'm a conservative diver. Until I get enough experience in the situation (which I wouldn't have, since we're talking training here) to make my own good judgments, I want a conservative diver helping with my judgment calls. The guy might be conservative; individuals differ; but the chances are low from a biological standpoint.

On the other hand, a woman half my age did our AOW class, and I was good with that. 21 is old enough to be past that problem for most people.

AT 19, I was an E5 (Sergeant) in the US Army. I jumped out of an airplane breathing oxygen at an altitude higher than airliners fly at. I led five other men in a mission in a bad place doing bad things to bad people. I brought everyone home in one piece.

Right now, teenagers are making decisions under extraordinarily stressful circumstances (that is, people are trying to kill them) that have the potential to create international incidents. The main difference between ages, in my experience, is that younger people have greater faith that everyone around them can accomplish great things.

People are people, not ages. Judge the person, not the birth date.

Nomad

That's all well and good, but you are ignoring a biological fact, which likely helped you to do those things, but may not be exactly what one wants when selecting a diving instructor.

 

[Divenomad]

Granted. It's been shown that parts of the brain that judge risk assessment are NOT fully developed at that age, particularly in males. The issue, as I see it, is that an 18 year old can have several hundred dives, and not be thinking like an instructor, and so can a forty year old. I never claimed to have any common sense, especially at that age .

That lack of development of risk assessment is the critical factor, which can be mediated by by training and experience in the water. This aspect, this lack of forebrain of development, is exactly the response I hoped to get. Studies have shown that portions of the brain that govern risk assessment lack full development before 25 or so, especially in males.

In this, I admit bias. I was trained to train others in life or death circumstances from a young age. I would be interested in others opinions on this particular...complication.

Are the objections to young instructors based on "experience' or there ability to handle (or properly avoid) an risky situation? Or are they one and the same?

BTW, my thanks to Thalassamania for giving me my opening.

Nomad

 

[Thalassamania]

I do not have an easy answer ... I would not disqualify all 18 year olds any more than I would accept as qualified all 35 year olds, you've got to look at the individual with an eye to the issues that their age might raise.

 

[BioLogic]

Granted. It's been shown that parts of the brain that judge risk assessment are NOT fully developed at that age, particularly in males. The issue, as I see it, is that an 18 year old can have several hundred dives, and not be thinking like an instructor, and so can a forty year old. I never claimed to have any common sense, especially at that age .

That lack of development of risk assessment is the critical factor, which can be mediated by by training and experience in the water. This aspect, this lack of forebrain of development, is exactly the response I hoped to get. Studies have shown that portions of the brain that govern risk assessment lack full development before 25 or so, especially in males.

In this, I admit bias. I was trained to train others in life or death circumstances from a young age. I would be interested in others opinions on this particular...complication.

Are the objections to young instructors based on "experience' or there ability to handle (or properly avoid) an risky situation? Or are they one and the same?

BTW, my thanks to Thalassamania for giving me my opening.

Nomad

My objection would not be based on either the experience of the person or the ability to handle a risky situation. I'm quite sure that an 18 year old instructor has considerably more experience than I, and I don't think there's any particular age bias in the ability to handle a tricky situation. That's experience and training, plus basic personality traits.

My objection would be that my point of view on 'acceptable risk' would not mesh well with the 18 year old's. The instructor guides the decision-making of the student; so I'd want someone on the same wavelength training my decision making. I am certain, from observation, that most 18 year old drivers don't assess risk as I do, for example.

If I really knew the guy, I wouldn't worry about age. In practice, I don't know potential instructors that well, so I'd go with statistical likelihoods.

 

[Riger]

In many environments, young professionals (say ... under 20) are professionals exactly because they are (positively) different from the average kid of the same age.

IMHO; to absolutely reject the concept of being trained by the kid, without any exposure to him, his methods or his demeanor, says more about the person rejecting the training than the instructor himself.

Best Regards
Richard

 

[Tigerman]

Someone who's 40 and an instructor could have been diving for only a year with 100 dives before becoming and instructor, while this 18yr old "kid" could have been diving for 8 years and have 1,000 dives.

The 40-yearold would still be likely to have more experience to apply from other areas of life though. Also, most teenagers are not very mature (although we all thought we where at the time).
Wether Id take courses from one? Depends on the person to be honest, but I think Id be sceptical..

 

[Doc Harry]

Experience does not an instructor make.

An 18 yo kid may have 1,000 dives, but is he mature enough to be an instructor?

Can you trust him?

Only some face-to-face time will tell you whether or not he is indeed an instrucor.