"Junior" classmate without parent/family member

[mikkilj]

Yeah, I had fun getting the Al 50 moved around too . Time to start working out more!

We spent a little time with introductions at the beginning of the class, but did not get into "Why are you taking scuba lessons..." I kind of wonder what the rationale for her being in the class is. I would guess that she does not have a diving parent, since the gear she showed up with consisted of a mask-snorkel-fin set from a nationwide high-volume retailer that included full-foot fins and a mask with plastic lenses .

I do put some of the responsibility on the LDS for letting her into the class, but even though I don't have children, I can't imagine a parent just signing a child up for the class without wanting to be there. It's not like ballet or something where you just show up for the recital, IMHO.

 

[Halthron]

SCUBA is something we're thinking of getting our daughter into once we finish the certification, we want to be sure that it's something she is capable of doing before allowing her to go through with it. When we asked our instructor about it, he said the youngest he would teach is 12 and that rarely. While you don't say the affiliation of your instructor, ours is with PADI and he said that when teaching children that young, he is required to have a maximum of two students. Not just two students that young, two students total.

We'd like to be able to dive as a family, doing shallow dives when my daughter is there but we want to be realistic. There's no way either of us would have taken a class paired up with her because then it would adversly impact our training. IMO, you have every right to demand an adult partner.

 

[chickdiver]

It is your course, you are paying the instructor (whether directly, or indirectly, through the dive shop) to provide the service of teaching you to SCUBA dive. You have every right to ask to be buddied with someone other than the 10 year old if you feel that you cannot concentrate on learning to dive when buddied with this person.

Frankly, I don't think that a 10 year old should be learning to dive at all, and I find it appalling that the parents of this child just dumped him or her off on the instructor, and that the instructor allowed it. If I were in the instructor's position, a requirement for this child to be in the class would be a parent on hand to serve as the buddy. But I digress....

 

[scubasean]

I don't mind helping buddies, but at this point, I want a buddy who is equally able to help me. I do not feel that I can depend on the 10 year old for this.

I concur with your stated opinion above.

I would also be concerned that the 10 yr. old might get certified based on your help, then fail in the deep water where it counts. (Sure, there will be those who argue that each student must perform the skills themselves, but it is you who is their buddy in the OW sessions, etc.) If her mom/dad is certified, I would think the instructor would want them around.

Oh well...

You should make your feelings known to the instructor.

 

[scubasean]

You and your husband have every right to request trainging with each other.

I'm not an instructor, but would think that one would rather split the couple up for training, if only to be able to identify if either needs additional help. This situation might not happen if both are paired together and one "helps" the other constantly...

Want an easy way out, though? Tell the Instructor that your lawyer told you two to budy with each other only - and certainly not with minors.

And people say its the attorneys that are the problem....Don, I'm generally in your court, and can't believe you would want to rely on this crutch....unless it were true that she was told this.

 

[mikkilj]

Perahps my view is harsh, but if I pay for an adutl course, I want what I paid for. The minors need to be working with Dive Masters and Instructors only, except maybe for their parents.

Yeah, I will probably end up talking privately to the instructor sometime during the next class, probably before the pool session. Since there are two couples and the 16 year old boy, it would also be pretty bad if she got paired up with him. There was an assistant instructor helping all of us out. Maybe he should focus on them? Oh well - that's for the instructors to figure out .

-=* Mikki *=-

 

[mikkilj]

Frankly, I don't think that a 10 year old should be learning to dive at all, and I find it appalling that the parents of this child just dumped him or her off on the instructor, and that the instructor allowed it. If I were in the instructor's position, a requirement for this child to be in the class would be a parent on hand to serve as the buddy. But I digress....

I don't really know what arrangement the shop made... It's SSI, for what it's worth. We had a substitute instructor on day 1 (which isn't bad in itself - we actually are neighbors with the sub instructor and she is great; I haven't had a chance to discuss this with her though). She was a school teacher for many years and probably handled the 10 year old better than some instructors would be able to. It will be interesting to see how next week goes with the "real" instructor .

When I was shopping for gear, I overheard one guy signing his 12 year old son up for private lessons. I think that was probably a smart choice that he made, if one wanted to certify their child... I like the camaraderie of the group lessons, aside from this little issue .

-=* Mikki *=-

 

[RIDIVER501]

No you wouldn't be out of line to ask the instructor not to pair you up with the 10yearold

I have a 10 year old girl in the class I am teaching right now and her buddy is one of My DM candidates for just that reason. It is totally appropriate for you to ask not to be paired with a buddy who is going to detract from your ability to learn and perform the required skills.

 

[chickdiver]

I don't teach OW anymore, but when I did, 15 was the youngest I would take, and then only with a parent present. I think kids younger than that lack the judgement to be safe divers, regardless of the requirement that they dive with an adult. There are also a lot of questions with regard to physiology and the impact of exposing children to increased pressures on a repeated basis. A better solution (imho) is to teach them to swim, snorkel and be comfortable around the water- then get them into SCUBA at a more appropriate age.

 

[MikeFerrara]

I don't teach OW anymore, but when I did, 15 was the youngest I would take, and then only with a parent present. I think kids younger than that lack the judgement to be safe divers, regardless of the requirement that they dive with an adult. There are also a lot of questions with regard to physiology and the impact of exposing children to increased pressures on a repeated basis. A better solution (imho) is to teach them to swim, snorkel and be comfortable around the water- then get them into SCUBA at a more appropriate age.

I agree and I'll go one step further. I don't think children of that age have the real world experience to asses the risk and make a rational decission as to whether or not they even want to dve. Mom and dad listen to the agency telling them it's no more dangerous than bowling and send little Jr off to dive.