Question At what age can a kid start diving

[boat sju]

Is there any data on the effects of pressure on bone development?

 

[Divedoggie]

Is there any data on the effects of pressure on bone development?

Pressure, N2, prudent decision making, real awareness of consequences, ability to fall back to training and protocols to deal with problems, etc.. there are a lot if questions without absolute answers. When dive planning, too many questions without answers and a solid plan, means don’t do the dive.. Same with kids and diving.
My business partner and I are in the dive industry and have certified thousands of students.. My business parter waited until his kids were teenagers because he didn’t think they were ready. I may certify my oldest this year at age 10, but only because I will be directly supervising her and limiting her to only a few dives a year.
To sum it up. If you are unsure, then wait.

 

[TMHeimer]

Letting a 10-yr old plan their dive would be a wonderful exercise and enhance the child's confidence and skills!

Of course an adult would need to review the plan and presumably supervise the dive, but the child SHOULD be able to formulate a mental model of the dive, define all the important parameters, objectives and goals. If a young child could NOT do that (to a considerable degree on an independent basis), then I would probably not dive with them - but I might suggest an alternative dive site that was simpler and more within their grasp.

I personally think 13 yrs old is a more reasonable age, primarily because of physical strength, size etc., but the reality of the situation is that 8 yr old kids can manage all kinds of dangerous activities like riding skateboards, bikes, skiing and a ton of other stuff that many adults would struggle with.

If a 10 year old can be certified why would an adult need to review the dive plan he/she made?
Those other activities you mention, dangerous as they can be, are not underwater to a depth of 40 feet.

 

[undrwater]

Is there any data on the effects of pressure on bone development?

This is an excellent question. Probably a good one for the dive medicine forum.

 

[scubadada]

Both my kids were certified by PADI at 12 years old, back in the old days. They were both extremely comfortable in the water and very good swimmers. Now they are 37 and 33 years old and still dive with their parents, priceless.

 

[USdiver1]

Is there any data on the effects of pressure on bone development?

Bone growth and scuba diving

The above is from DAN

Children and Scuba Diving

Is it safe? When are young too young? The topic of children and diving has been and will remain controversial and highly emotional. The following article intends to provide a review of current recommendations regarding medical issues and fitness as well as important considerations related to the...

xray-mag.com

 

[VikingDives]

I won't teach anyone under 12 as a general rule. Young kids are magnets for dive skills and they look really good in the water really quickly. They don't generally grasp the implications of the dangers until they are older.

They also are not as cold-tolerant as adults, so I won't take young ones for most of the year because we don't have an OW site that's over 62 otherwise.

The best way to turn a kid off from diving is to get them into cold water and make them miserable.

One of the things I look at is the parent('s') attitude. I sent one family away because the dad clearly did not care about his safety, or the safety of his kids. He just wanted to get them certified and "he'd show them the rest."

I saw them all with another shop a few weeks later, going hand over hand down a horizontal line to the bottom, so overweighted they couldn't swim at more than a 30-40 degree angle.

 

[mdaitc_suba]

It really depends on the maturity of your kid - do they really understand what they're doing, and the consequences? Also - you as a parent, can you see yourself going on a simple dive with your kid without being "glued" to their side?

 

[MB NZ]

Reading with interest. My 8 year old boy is very keen to get in to it. He's physically well developed, unfortunately, brain is lagging behind a little bit! He's still quite immature in a lot of ways. I'm hoping he's ready at 12 years. If I don't think he is, we can wait.

 

[rdwarrior1]

My boys became interested at 14 and 17, it was a not something that we pushed on them in fact life had us delay their training a bit. I have completed many dives as my buddy, and trust them to perform according to their training. We have a great time as a family doing a shared activity and that the most rewarding thing about it.