Instructors as role models

[tedtim]

.... That does not mean they stop being intelligent divers. And it does mean that they do need to act appropriately in the event of an emergency, as their training dictates.

Grand prize winner! I believe that this quote addresses the essence of what Lynne was pointing at to start things off here.

 

[GDI]

Rick's point I have to agree with.

When you sign on to be an instructor this level of certification and experience cannot be put aside at your whim. Once you have achieved this level you are expected by society to uphold a responsibility.

It does not matter that you and your instructor friends agree to just go out and dive and should something happen that they were not diving in a official instructor capacity. As an instructor any dive you make from any diving platform places you in a position of responsiblity. You may just be out for a pleasure dive and something goes wrong the legal beagles out there are not going to care that you are a friend and that you were just diving, they are not going to care that you were just on the boat as "just another diver". Lawsuits have a funny way of deleting friendships and funtime locations. Your liability insurance doesn't cover you for those moments that you are just teaching. If a lawyer can find a way to help their client and you are a possible target they will use it. Now there are provisions that will be considered should you just be in the area when an accident happens and you were just out for a fun dive or if you were diving with friends for a fun dive. One of these provisions is that scuba has risks and all certified divers should have a understanding of this and have signed a liability waiver at least once.

 

[Bobbin-along]

While yes, equivalent experience is also OK, and as I said, it's a voluntary ceiling. But again, as an instructor in this neck of the woods it's generally frowned upon to be diving at night with someone who hasn't gotten the card to prove it. Several of the larger shops get their panties all twisted up to hear that I don't have an AOW card (at the time I didn't) and dive the dives I do. Again, it's voluntary, but that doesn't stop them from getting all spun up. I won't give names but the same shops who tell me I'm gonna die diving at night in the Puget Sound unless I take their AOW class, their instructors dive with us socially. The DMs are also instructed to only dive to the lowest level of cert the team has, no exceptions.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I think he was a rude guy. period. He wants to go to 200 feet...fine.

I disagree.

First off let's clarify something. There's a huge difference between what the two instructors in Lynne's example did. There's an even bigger difference between your example and those two ... because Lynne is talking about an instructor/student relationship and you are talking about a parent/child relationship. The two are not at all comparable.

I'll focus my comments on the instuctor/student relationship.

As a student, you are paying for a professional service. During the time your instructor is providing that service there is a duty of care. It's explicit ... and it is guided by the policies and practices of the training agency. If an instructor violates those policies and practices IN ANY WAY, he or she is legally liable for any consequences of that violation. It isn't just someone's right ... but their duty ... to report known violations to the agency, particularly if those violations result in injury or fatality.

Outside of the class we ... NAUI, at least ... have a code of ethics that we agreed to follow when we became a member of the organization. In NAUI's case, becoming a member occurs when you reach a professional level ... DM or instructor. That code of ethics exists because NAUI recognizes that, as a dive professional, not just your students but the public at large will view you as a representative of the dive profession ... and in specific, as a representative of the agency you teach for. By accepting a professional role with the agency, you agree to abide by that code of ethics. It spells out how you will represent yourself to the agency, to your students, and to the public at large. The Board of Directors of the agency retains the right to review your conduct in light of that code, and if you are found in violation they have the right to censure, suspend, or revoke your membership privileges. Basically what that means is that if you do something aggregiously stupid they can decide they don't want you in the club anymore and kick you out.

Engaging in acts that endanger your students ... or even other divers you are accompanying on a dive outside of the classroom ... is at the top of the list of things that can get you kicked out of the organization. NAUI ... like every training agency ... won't long survive if they do not support the tenets of safe diving, and the protocols of safe diving practices.

In the case of last week's diver death, the actions of the instructor were not just unconscionable ... they were negligent. Were it not for his encouragement, this young man would not have been out there attempting this dive, and he would be alive today.

If a diver who is or was a student does something dangerous or stupid because I, as his or her instructor, tell them it's OK ... that "people do it all the time" ... then, because of my relationship with that diver I am culpable.

NAUI recognizes the power of the instructor/student relationship ... and that is the reason they have a code of ethics in their standards and policies manual. That code doesn't apply to me only when I'm "on the clock". It applies to me whenever I'm representing myself as a member of the agency ... whether or not I'm actually teaching a class. Locally ... because I'm known as an instructor ... that's every time I suit up to go diving.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Thalassamania]

While yes, equivalent experience is also OK, and as I said, it's a voluntary ceiling. But again, as an instructor in this neck of the woods it's generally frowned upon to be diving at night with someone who hasn't gotten the card to prove it. Several of the larger shops get their panties all twisted up to hear that I don't have an AOW card (at the time I didn't) and dive the dives I do. Again, it's voluntary, but that doesn't stop them from getting all spun up. I won't give names but the same shops who tell me I'm gonna die diving at night in the Puget Sound unless I take their AOW class, their instructors dive with us socially. The DMs are also instructed to only dive to the lowest level of cert the team has, no exceptions.

I don't know the people invoved, but at first glance it strike me as little more than greed on the part of those shops, let 'um spin.

 

[wallacm]

I am not an instructor but on the way to becoming one. All my buddies are instructors, and as far as them behaving professionally, i think that they do. Of course they mess around out of the water, when they are not teaching, making jokes and stuff. But as far as instructors being role models, they are. They always need to maintain some sort of professionalism, and keep their skills up, because if someone sees them doing something they might just adopt it as a correct skill. Even though the instructor knew he was just messing around, doesn't mean that the other diver does.