Muskegon man rescues 12-year-old diver

[Jeff Toorish]

It makes sense for the parents not to in the water during cert. That way there's no conflict of who is in charge, ie: the instructor. We stayed on shore for this very reason when our daughter got her o/w cert.

I have to disagree. When my daughter was certified at 10 years old, I was there for the entire class, and every dive. I'm glad I was because the first dive in open water, the dive master who was assisting didn't realize Sammi was having a problem equalizing. She was giving the distress signal, but he thought she was just a little nervous. He kept trying to take her deeper until I stepped in.

Incidentally, this was a fantastic divemaster who I trust completely. He simply misunderstood a signal --as her father, I knew it was something other than anxiety.

On her AOW course this past year, at age 12, I was also there. I was a DM myself by then and tried to assist the instructor but not get in the way. No problems but I'm glad I was there.

If any LDS, instructor or anyone else tried to tell me I could not be present for one of my child's courses, we would be changing instructors --period.

I am now an instructor myself and I would not even consider teaching a child without one of his or her parents present for every dive.

There was never any question of who was in charge --the instructors always ran the class. I tried to assist wherever I could in an unobtrusive manner --but I was there.

Jeff

 

[jtivat]

The parents were in the class also from what I have heard.

 

[zyiola]

I know in my OW class I had my dive buddy right next to me almost at all times. I'm glad that he's fine but that's one thing they teach in class if you loose your buddy to resurface..

 

[fisherdvm]

I am glad the boy is doing fine. These stories paranoid me enough that I made sure my son had 10 confined sessions just to be sure, before he did his OW. I am still not comfortable labeling him as a "certified" diver. His OW instructor had a looped finger around his spg hose continously through the OW dive. I do the same now unless we were in very shallow dives.

As far as the parents being around, it is not a bad idea. Unfortunately, if you don't know the parent well, it would be terrible if you have to focus on helping an inexperienced diver parent, and ignoring the child who you should be focused on. On the other hand, bad things can happen to the instructor too, so having a parent around, who is an experienced diver, will give the instructor some comfort, I would guess.

 

[NancyLynn]

I have to disagree. When my daughter was certified at 10 years old, I was there for the entire class, and every dive. I'm glad I was because the first dive in open water, the dive master who was assisting didn't realize Sammi was having a problem equalizing. She was giving the distress signal, but he thought she was just a little nervous. He kept trying to take her deeper until I stepped in.

Similar concerns in my class (and my daughter was 15). She is very stoic, and it takes quite a bit to push her to her limit, but when she finally gets there she is suddenly unpredictable. I can tell when she is about there - but it is not obvious to someone who does not know her well. Things would have been a little smoother if I had been in the pool area to alert the instructor that he was pushing just a bit too fast (we discussed it later - his sense was that everyone was doing so well they could move really quickly through the first set of skills - he wasn't aware that she was having difficulty breathing because of a poorly adjusted reg - since there were no outward signs she was in distress - until she hopped out of the water and refused to get back in.)

Having been a swimming instructor, I can appreciate the challenges that parents over the shoulder can create - but I can also appreciate that their insight can be very helpful as well.

Incidentally, I was also there for my daughter's OW checkout dives. There were some challenges during the dives (not directly involving my daughter) - and it turned out to be very helpful to have had another certified diver on hand.