Kill My Kid

[diverdan007]

Kids under the age of 12 should not dive. Reason, they do not fully understand what the risks are..even if the diver/parent is around...they still do not know better. Now...there are some kids that can react well in an emergency...but they are still KIDS. Putting that kind of responsibilty on them is not a good idea at such a young age. But you parents know better. Right. It is not like driving a motorcycle or a go-kart or something like that. where you can still walk away from a crash. Where as in scuba...you can die in 4 feet of water. NAd if you parents do not think about that aspect. where you thing it is impossible to DIE in 4 feet...I think you should take a few steps back and re-evalute your diving knowedge or lack there-of

Snorkleing is a good start. let the kids do that as they watch daddy scuba around. But does daddy have a buddy...a good start to a bad habit for a young diver...

There are parents out there that are excellent divers, with many years of experience that CAN show their kids how to dive. Them parents have a very good understanding of dive physiology etc. Now take the Newly certified parent diver...THEY HAVE NO business teaching anyone..let alone kids, how to dive. They are learing themselves. Even if you havebeen diving for several years...but look at how the diving was done and how many dives were logged.. Some of these parents are resport divers and only go once or twice a year. Maybe do 10 dives a year...BUT they are experienced divers....um..no. They are not.

They will pass on the bad habits or poor skills to their kids. IS that an example in which to teach kids...by a bad example of themselves. I am alittle hard with this point...but I seen some parents with VERY poor skills to only yell at thir kids becasue they did not do it right. But that is how they were shown.. think about it.

This debat can go on and on.

Bottom line. In experienced parents in scuba...should leave the teachings of scuba to the qualified. They will do more harm than good.

I got certified at 10, and had multiple dives in low visibility and currents by the time I was 11/12. I understood the science behind diving as well as the dangers of diving. I memorize most of the OW divers book, and could describe any diving ailment and the procedures quite well. Even though I may have been one of the rare ones, some kids do mature faster than others. Then you hit a certain age and start becoming less mature,

 

[ERIC.K]

Ok, i'm not looking to have anyone pile on me, But I'm not sure what the objection is here? Are we objecting to a 9 year old getting a certification?, or are we objecting to a father certifying his son, or are we objecting to a non-certified "kid" jumping into the pool with scuba gear on? I'm reading this and learning, because, we own a inground pool with a 9 foot deep end and I have jumped in with a 12 year old nephew with some of my pool gear on and had him "dive" if you will in the pool. Ear barotrauma not really an issue here because the children play games where they throw objects in the deep end and dive in for them, second, with a 9 foot deep end, what is the risk of an air embolism? I suppose I thought of this as good clean fun. after all I grew up in an era where we would swing across a deep gourge in a tire tied to a tree with an old rope, the gourge...you guessed it over 25 feet deep. I guess on a risk scale of 1-10, with nearly the whole family standing by the pool, my nephew and I "diving the pool and him trying a scuba unit, I felt the risk to be very low, maybe a 2. P.S. I WAS NOT THE GUY IN THE LDS.

 

[Jeff Toorish]

Kids under the age of 12 should not dive. Reason, they do not fully understand what the risks are..even if the diver/parent is around...they still do not know better.

That is a generalization that could just as easily apply to adults.

My daughter was certified at 10, got her advanced a few weeks ago at 11 and is now working on her stress/rescue. Frankly, she is one of the best divers I know. Extremely safety conscious and on every dive we practice at least one emergency drill. How many adult dive teams do that.

As I've mentioned before, every instructor she has had has praised her (often privately to me) talent and commitment as a diver.

There are many adult divers who don't understand the risks and should not be in the water. Diving is certainly not for all children, but it's really not for all adults either.

Incidentally, I agree, this guy should not be teaching his own child for all kinds of reasons.

Jeff

 

[SkullDeformity]

If you really want to get your kid certified, would anyone be opposed to having another set of certifications for them? Not lower standards, just a certification that is no longer valid after they turn 18, or some other age where we can all agree that is a "scuba appropriate" age. I'm don't believe that at such a young age you can say they are just as capable as an adult or older minor (say 16-17 years old). I don't buy the agrument that "some adults" (great use of qualifiers guys) are not capable of diving, and that the child in question is a prodigy, and therefore it's okay. I would like to believe these incapable adults are the exception rather than the rule, and that children capable of diving to any extent are the exception rather than the rule as well.

tl;dr: I would just like some protection for the kids in the form of limited certifications.

 

[fisherdvm]

the deep end and dive in for them, second, with a 9 foot deep end, what is the risk of an air embolism?

Less than 50/50, but high enough not to talk and teach your children about it.

Consider that pulmonary emboli can occur with as little as a change of pressure in 4 ft of water, you have to teach them about never holding their breath.

If one of them had a full lung (deep inhalation), and held his/her breath, and shoot for the surface at 9 ft below, death can occur.

If they are just screwing around, and imitate the movies (janking regs out of each other's mouth), the risk of it happened if they are at an end exhalation is low. But if it occurred at end inhalation, there is a chance of pulmonary emboli. If it is at full inspiration - and a purposeful breath held - then it is very high risk.

Most likely, your kids can get away with it. But rarer things has happened before.

 

[pengwe]

Ok, i'm not looking to have anyone pile on me, But I'm not sure what the objection is here? Are we objecting to a 9 year old getting a certification?, or are we objecting to a father certifying his son, or are we objecting to a non-certified "kid" jumping into the pool with scuba gear on? I'm reading this and learning, because, we own a inground pool with a 9 foot deep end and I have jumped in with a 12 year old nephew with some of my pool gear on and had him "dive" if you will in the pool. Ear barotrauma not really an issue here because the children play games where they throw objects in the deep end and dive in for them, second, with a 9 foot deep end, what is the risk of an air embolism? I suppose I thought of this as good clean fun. after all I grew up in an era where we would swing across a deep gourge in a tire tied to a tree with an old rope, the gourge...you guessed it over 25 feet deep. I guess on a risk scale of 1-10, with nearly the whole family standing by the pool, my nephew and I "diving the pool and him trying a scuba unit, I felt the risk to be very low, maybe a 2. P.S. I WAS NOT THE GUY IN THE LDS.

Air is 1.25x as dense at 9 feet, as at the surface. If your nephew had lungs full of air, and swam up holding his breath, could his lungs expand another 25%?

I don't know how high the risk is. Also depends on your nephew, and what you've taught him.

 

[SteveAD]

If you really want to get your kid certified, would anyone be opposed to having another set of certifications for them? Not lower standards, just a certification that is no longer valid after they turn 18, or some other age where we can all agree that is a "scuba appropriate" age. I'm don't believe that at such a young age you can say they are just as capable as an adult or older minor (say 16-17 years old). I don't buy the agrument that "some adults" (great use of qualifiers guys) are not capable of diving, and that the child in question is a prodigy, and therefore it's okay. I would like to believe these incapable adults are the exception rather than the rule, and that children capable of diving to any extent are the exception rather than the rule as well.

tl;dr: I would just like some protection for the kids in the form of limited certifications.

It's already there. In the PADI system anyone under 15 is certified as a Jr OW and "must dive with a certifed adult" and at 10-12 "must dive with a certified parent or guardian or dive professional". The problem comes with who enforces the "must dive with..." requirements. There are no scuba police, nor , I think, do we want them. Parents should be responsible for their kids safety, sadly, There is not much to protect kids from irresponsible parents.

 

[plot]

Most instructors I know do pool work with there kids around 9 or 10... some as young as 8.

 

[SkullDeformity]

It's already there. In the PADI system anyone under 15 is certified as a Jr OW and "must dive with a certifed adult" and at 10-12 "must dive with a certified parent or guardian or dive professional". The problem comes with who enforces the "must dive with..." requirements. There are no scuba police, nor , I think, do we want them. Parents should be responsible for their kids safety, sadly, There is not much to protect kids from irresponsible parents.

So if it is jr ow, how can the kid keep going on to take advanced and rescue? I don't want to limit the learning, if they want it, but shouldn't anything else they earn be junior?

 

[Flightlead]

my daughter (11.75 yo) did her 2nd class day and 1st pool day today. naui ow. she will get a padi card for 1 month until she's 12 then naui. she was a little slow understanding the skills when described but did great when shown. I'll spend an extra weekend in the pool with her, but anticipate she'll do decently on the checkout in June. nevertheless she will only dive with me and never below 30'. while she was working her skills I was working with a 50 year old who, I think, will probably drown if she ever gets certified (ok, that's a bit of an exageration but not much...) anyway, if mature enough to understand the serious nature of diving, and reasonably intelligent a 10 year old CAN learn enough to dive reasonably safely with a reasonably safe adult, and plenty of adults can't. oh, not I am not making the mistake of trying to teach her myself.