Can someone please explain this oddity to me?

[RayJayJr]

PADI Master Scuba Diver Course Details

Minimum qualifications: PADI Rescue Diver or Junior Rescue Diver (or qualifying certification from another training organization), 12 years old, five PADI Specialty Diver certifications.

Just curious if anyone can actually explain this!? I nearly fell out of my chair when I read this. I hope it's not just myself who thinks that is the most rediculusly absurd thing EVER. Never in my life have I might a 12 year old who was nothing short of prodigy, who would have the dexterity, maturity, and aptitude required to complete a course such as this.

I mean, if a 12 year old were to apply for your Master Scuba Diver Class, could you, as a dive professional, justify accepting such an obvious risk and not question yourself?

I mean I guess if he/she has completed OW and AOW, it speaks of their character, but the odds are so slim that you'd come accross that type of person, that it seems absurd to even dignify the thought!

Please dont tell me this speaks of the quality of the PADI courses. *laugh* :shakehead

 

[TheFoggyMask]

Watch out, everyone on SB is soooo proud of their pre-teen children they'll bite your head off. PADI just likes to certify as many people as quickly as they can, and they've done their best to eliminate age as a barrier to getting the bucks. Also, prepare yourself for the inevitable "you're only x years old" response.

 

[Thalassamania]

Just curious if anyone can actually explain this!? I nearly fell out of my chair when I read this. I hope it's not just myself who thinks that is the most rediculusly absurd thing EVER. Never in my life have I might a 12 year old who was nothing short of prodigy, who would have the dexterity, maturity, and aptitude required to complete a course such as this.

I mean, if a 12 year old were to apply for your Master Scuba Diver Class, could you, as a dive professional, justify accepting such an obvious risk and not question yourself?

I mean I guess if he/she has completed OW and AOW, it speaks of their character, but the odds are so slim that you'd come accross that type of person, that it seems absurd to even dignify the thought!

Please dont tell me this speaks of the quality of the PADI courses. *laugh* :shakehead

Since there's no such thing as a PADI Master Diver Course, the question never comes up. If the 12 year old can do rescue and collect five specialties, and has enough allowance to put $30 aside, that's all it takes.

 

[The Kraken]

A great deal is left up to the discretion of the instructor to determine if the candidate has successfully performed the requirements.

the K

 

[Thalassamania]

A great deal is left up to the discretion of the instructor to determine if the candidate has successfully performed the requirements.

the K

But, there is no instructor, with discretion or otherwise.

 

[Wildcard]

It is nothing more than a collectors badge. If you have done this, this and that and pay us more, you too can be a Master Scuba Diver! Please don't confuse this with Divemaster.

 

[The Kraken]

Ah, understood . . .
There is no "course" per se . . .
It's just a card that is available for sale when a diver has accumulated the aforementioned 5 specialty cards.

the K

 

[shakeybrainsurgeon]

Anthropolgist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jared Diamond spent time in New Guinea with the most "primitive" tribe on earth...he awakened early one morning to see twin boys, about 12 years old or less, take a canoe out onto the predator and snake infested local river (while the adults slept). One boy leaned on a pole stuck in the bottom to hold the boat against the current, the other began spearing fish. Once they had caught the family breakfast, they paddled back and began cleaning their catch. Diamond, father of twins the same age, was amazed at the prowess of these boys and the danger they faced daily; he noted that our children lack this sort of skill/daring because we made them the way they are, not because 12 year olds are intrinsically incapable of adult responsibilities and tasks.

Prior to the 20th century, there were two types of people --- children (12 and under) and adults (everyone else). The idea of that rebellious, harebrained, unreliable and useless period known as adolescence is a modern fiction.

I'm not saying I agree with thrusting 12 year olds into adult roles, not at all. I'm simply saying that evaluation of other cultures, present and past, will reveal that "children" can do amazing things if we let them.

 

[merxlin]

I know of a 12 year old (well shes 13 now) who can probably outdive a lot of folks. Granted, he dad owns a dive shop and is an instructor, but she has great skills and he makes her prove it on every dive. So it is possible.

 

[Michael Schlink]

Once again we have to keep in mind what PADI'S MSD card is really about. Although I think that the classes/courses/specialties have a lot of merit, the name , just like Advanced Open Water, is where the problem lies.

What is wrong with a 12 year old (I don't want ot go into the "should kids learn to dive" ) debate, so or anyone for that matter, taking additonal training and getting recognition for that additonal work,studying, and practicing on scuba skills.

Wouldn't you prefer to dive with a diver that, say in the past year or so, went through a well taught OW course, then did five more dives with an instructor and learned a little more(or a lot) about buoyancy skills, navigational skills, night, deep or several other choices. Then went on to go through a weekend or two with an instructor learning rescue skills. Then after (or in between) all of that, they were able to spend another dive or two with an instructor expanding on things learned in each of the 5 dives they made with their instructor earlier. This diver just spent about a year or possibly more making over maybe twenty five dives with an instructor, there to coach, council and train. ........ and this is bad why again??????? oh yea because of the name PADI picked for the recognition of this diver Master Scuba Diver!!??

Would it be better if PADI changed the name to " more experienced and trained diver than a lot of other divers"?