Build the Perfect Certification Agency

[Bob DBF]

I don't think it's entirely fair to lay all the blame for crappy/lazy divers squarely at the feet of their instructor and the agency. It's very easy for someone to do well in the class, have fine skills, and then just slip into bad habits or simply ignore what they learned - and demonstrated - in class.

And my contention has always been that there is no way to know, because there is no quality control checks on the instructors. The instructors are, in this way, the same as their students, they were shown and then repeated how they were supposed to teach, but no one checks. In the case of the poor instructors and the poor divers they train, I believe, the blame rests on the Agency. Well trained divers can turn bad, and that is on them.

If you had a car accident tomorrow, how much blame should be assigned to the person who taught you how to drive? Are any grammatical errors in your post above the fault of your high school English teacher... the school system?

Unfortunately my drive instructor and English teacher are long gone, so I think the statute of limitations are up for them. The English teachers tried their best with me, but I was never all that good and they didn't give me a cert as a novelist, my grades reflected that. As for driving, the driving instructor did not issue me a licence, the state gave me a written test and then a driving test before I was issued my licence. They also have cops on the road for quality control and can suspend my licence for stupidity.

It's very easy to sit at home and read SB and get caught up in the noise level created by the fewer than a dozen or so posters who are responsible for ~70% or so of the "most instructors who aren't me or from my agency suck" post volume.

I have to believe that constantly marinating in the negativity, criticism, accident reports, finger pointing, and constant griping that can infect this "community" must have a negative impact on many people. Whether the diver who comes here for info only to find out that he (and his instructor) is an idiot and crappy diver, or the good diver or instructor who becomes more and more critical and disdainful of other divers and instructors. Can't be good.

Going to an internet board for information is akin to shopping for cheese in a rattrap. I think SB does a good job of mediating the chaos and is a rather civil board, although I have seen people come and go quickly.



Bob
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On the Internet you can choose to be anything you want. It's strange that so many people choose to be stupid.

 

[scubadada]

I just thought I should point out for the sake of avoiding confusion that IDEA is already the name of a scuba training agency. It is a member of the RSTC.

Damn. Well at least I saved $40 on a trademark search.

:d

I guess we'll just call it RJP for now then