johndiver999
Contributor
I have a different take than some of the people. The most troubling part of the Op's comments (shown below) where that the 10-yr old daughter seemed to enjoy diving but feels bad about not getting the certification and it has dinged her self-confidence.
I thought it would be good for her personal development and boost her confidence. Unfortunately is had an opposite effect.
If it were me, I would concentrate on "personal development and confidence" as a goal. It sounds to me like she is 90% there and having this situation lower her self confidence is extremely unfortunate.
She just needs practice with diving without a mask. As other suggested, that skill can be effectively honed in a swimming pool with a mask and snorkel. If it were my daughter, she would be going nowhere NEAR scuba gear until she and I were entirely convinced that the apprehension about the mask removal has been entirely eliminated. It might take 10 pool sessions and tons of games and drills, but who cares, she is 10, she has all the time in the world - and the ultimate goal is more important than simply scuba diving.
She needs to understand that she falls within a very small sliver of the pre-teen population that can scuba dive at all. She is exceptional and should be proud of that, NOT have her confidence harmed because she has not yet passed the course or more specifically, mastered one (rather challenging) skill.
The whole issue of comfort in the water (without a mask) is absolutely critical in my mind. Otherwise she might bolt from 8 feet and literally die. The consequences for failure in this regard are far too high to try to manipulate a certification program and get her to squeak by or be issued a "participation trophy".
The course does sound way too brief, but regardless of that issue, the fact remains that this is an essential skill and she's not yet mastered it.
She needs to be way over trained on this skill/aspect. She needs to build confidence in herself for this skill. No instructor or certification course or program can grant competence - she has to earn it.
Before I would take a 10-yr old scuba diving, they would have to EASILY throw their mask, snorkel and fins in the deep end of the pool: dive in, swim to the bottom, clear their ears, put the fins on, put the mask on, clear the mask, place the snorkel in the mouth and clear that too, all on the original single breath. It should be a fun challenge and completely attainable by an exceptional 10-yr old.
Once she has mastered that, she should be good to go and then move back to scuba. If necessary, I might let her "cheat" with a weight belt and 2-3 lbs of lead, if that helped.
I thought it would be good for her personal development and boost her confidence. Unfortunately is had an opposite effect.
If it were me, I would concentrate on "personal development and confidence" as a goal. It sounds to me like she is 90% there and having this situation lower her self confidence is extremely unfortunate.
She just needs practice with diving without a mask. As other suggested, that skill can be effectively honed in a swimming pool with a mask and snorkel. If it were my daughter, she would be going nowhere NEAR scuba gear until she and I were entirely convinced that the apprehension about the mask removal has been entirely eliminated. It might take 10 pool sessions and tons of games and drills, but who cares, she is 10, she has all the time in the world - and the ultimate goal is more important than simply scuba diving.
She needs to understand that she falls within a very small sliver of the pre-teen population that can scuba dive at all. She is exceptional and should be proud of that, NOT have her confidence harmed because she has not yet passed the course or more specifically, mastered one (rather challenging) skill.
The whole issue of comfort in the water (without a mask) is absolutely critical in my mind. Otherwise she might bolt from 8 feet and literally die. The consequences for failure in this regard are far too high to try to manipulate a certification program and get her to squeak by or be issued a "participation trophy".
The course does sound way too brief, but regardless of that issue, the fact remains that this is an essential skill and she's not yet mastered it.
She needs to be way over trained on this skill/aspect. She needs to build confidence in herself for this skill. No instructor or certification course or program can grant competence - she has to earn it.
Before I would take a 10-yr old scuba diving, they would have to EASILY throw their mask, snorkel and fins in the deep end of the pool: dive in, swim to the bottom, clear their ears, put the fins on, put the mask on, clear the mask, place the snorkel in the mouth and clear that too, all on the original single breath. It should be a fun challenge and completely attainable by an exceptional 10-yr old.
Once she has mastered that, she should be good to go and then move back to scuba. If necessary, I might let her "cheat" with a weight belt and 2-3 lbs of lead, if that helped.
