My son is turning 10 and wants to be a diver

[reefugee]

Congratulation! I can totally empathize about the "other responsibilities." My little girl went through the same thing. Fortunately for us, she decided to take a quarter off of gymnastic while she was getting certified.

Just an update, Im happy to say that Dylan completed all his skills and did vary well even after all the gear issues, his first two rental wetsuits didn't fit, BCD's were all to big, things like that can realy get in the way of learning, buying is own wetsuit realy made the difference.

we did have a few tears chapter 4-5 proved to be a bit of a challenge for him, this was a lot of pressure to put on a 10 year old, he had other responsibilities as well, schoolwork, his chores, friends/family and I was being a bit too hard-***** on the boy:no but he got it all done and did vary well tomorrow we have to go to the LDS to do are exams, I think he'll do fine. His open water dive is still a few months away were looking forward to that day.

 

[cgvmer]

That's great. I have been following this thread as I have a 9yr old daughter who has been bitten by Snuba, and watching my 2 sons and I get certified.

I am a new diver, my sons 18 and 14 were certified last year. My younger son and I were certified together, my older son by himself because of scheduling issues.

Just as a note, all three of my children swim competitivley my oldest has worked as a lifegaurd for 3 years, and I have been assisting with BSA lifegaurd training during summer camp for the last 8 years so we are all very comfortable in the water.

When we dive together, I tend to spend most of my time watching my sons. We all have similiar issues with bouyancy, getting better each time we dive. Since they are in such good shape, they get mad at me as I am an air hog compared to them.

As for my 9yr old, next summer the LDS my son certifed with has a week long scuba day camp for kids 10-16. At the end of a week, the kids are ready to go for OW dives.

Now I need to figure out how to get my wife certified....

 

[Guba]

Okay, some of you have heard this before, so I'll be brief.
What an adult diver has to remember at all times in diving with a small child is that they (the adult) is essentially diving solo, only with an additional responsibility in tow. Certainly, the child is certified, but he/she still has certain physical and mental limitations that can never be forgotten. Can that child tow an unconscious adult to shore? Get him/her out of gear? Perform emergency procedures and/or summon help? Deal with the psychological trauma if 'something should happen'?
Small children should be made a part of a diving group that has at least two capable adults. In that way, both adults can share the responsibility of the child and each adult is backed up by a full-sized buddy. The trap is to groom a small child into a dive buddy before he/she is physically and emotionally ready.
(Teens are a different matter, of course, providing size is not a factor.)
My two cents worth...(If it's worth that much).

 

[scubacoots3]

2006 my daughters both got certified 10 & 12 years old, there was a total of 8 students in their class, (not bragging), but my girls were the top 2 in the class in both skills and the test.
They certified at the same shop I use so I knew their instructors and the way they teach, which made it easier for me to help prepare them.
I took them through the basis of the material with alot of attention to dive tables, I use the approach of first teaching them - then having each one of them teach me, I even used a dry earse board - drawed out a dive profile and did actual dive table calculations with them from my logbook. I spent alot of time with them in the pool going over basic skills.
When they started class they had great confidence in themselves which I feel is one of the most important things for someone that young to be taking on scuba courses.
During my 10yr. olds swim without a mask skill, she was on the bottom waiting for the instructor to remove her mask, as he did it became intangled in her hair it took him over two minutes to untangle her mask - the whole time she just laid there and waited untill he got done and then took off and completed her swim, the instructor came up and was blown away at her not panicing.
The hardest thing for me was watching and staying out of the way, but I did, and the instructor really appreciated it.
Diving has taken on a whole new twist fro me - it is greater than ever before now that I have my two daughters with me - I love it.

-SC3 out

 

[Diver Dad]

I think I may have said this already, but there's no way that I'll be diving with just Dylan and myself! for now we're going to do most of are diving with the LDS, and then eventually with some family members that dive. for the next few years i dont believe that it would be vary safe or responsible for me to dive with just Dylan.

 

[Jimmer]

Diver Dad, I lost track of this post a while back, but I'm curious which shop you ended up going through. The reason I ask is I have been in the pool at Brock with Dan's the past 3 Wednesdays, and was wondering if you might have been there too.

Jim

 

[Guba]

Diver Dad, I think that's extremely wise and responsible of you. I hope I didn't come across as brash in my previous post. I think most of us recognize the limitations of our kids, but you'd be surprised at the number of parents who don't. While I'm no expert in diving, I AM an expert in young people (29 years as a professional educator, a couple of decades in swimming instruction, lifeguarding, and lifeguard training, and 15 years as a Boy Scout leader). All too often, we see examples of parents who try to push their kids far beyond their abilities. While challenges are good, ignoring obvious physical limitations is just asking for trouble.
I once saw a dad rock climbing with his young son belaying the line. Just about the time my companion and I walked by, the dad popped off the face of the cliff. The little guy (about 80 pounds) was jerked clean off his feet and there was the scream of rope through the figure 8. My buddy and I pounced and arrested the fall before dad hit bottom. The kid had some rope burns, the dad had some scrapes, but it all could have been avoided if Dad had simply recognized that this was not a good set-up.
Once again, I think you are showing great prudence for enjoying diving with your son in a very responsible manner. Have a great time!

 

[Diver Dad]

Diver Dad, I lost track of this post a while back, but I'm curious which shop you ended up going through. The reason I ask is I have been in the pool at Brock with Dan's the past 3 Wednesdays, and was wondering if you might have been there too.

Jim

what time were you in the pool? we were in around 9:00pm

 

[Jimmer]

yeah that's the same time we were there, we were sharing the pool with Dan's, because we had 1 student who is in a rush for his Cert before going to Florida next month.

 

[Diver Dad]

yeah that's the same time we were there, we were sharing the pool with Dan's, because we had 1 student who is in a rush for his Cert before going to Florida next month.

yep it was with Dan's. Jonathan Krool, was my instructor I had on the black O'Neill wetsuit.