My son is turning 10 and wants to be a diver

[victor]

Congratulations to your daughter for sticking it out. It does show strength of character and determination. You are right to feel proud of her.

Well done for making the right decision and not being her crutch. She now knows that she can do these things by herself and is as good if not better than some of the others.

It will have done her confidence no end of good and not only for diving.

Just thought I would share my experience. Last weekend my 13 year old daughters had her OW class pool dives. I joined the class as her buddy and we had a great time, she breezed through most of the pool and classroom work without any issues. This weekend was a whole different story, she had her certification dives at a local lake-5ml from head to toe, steel 72 tank and 24 lbs of lead (the instructors do like them overweighted in class don't they). Air temp was between 45-60, water temp 48-50, less than a foot of visibility. We started the class last weekend with 16, by this Sunday we were down to 9. with all the differences between pool and lake (cold, weighted like crazy, no visiblity, windy with choppy water etc...) it was a tough time for her. I realized at the end of the first day that I needed to remove myself from the picture. By being her buddy she had an easy "out", she could tell me how cold it was and how she was having a hard time with certain things and how she didn't know if she could do it. Once I asked one of the DMs to pair her with another student she calmed down and handled herself. It wasn't an easy thing for me to do but I knew it was the right thing, her familiarity with me was offereing her a crutch when she really needed to focus and rise to the challenge, I am extremely proud of her for completing a class tat quite a few adults bailed out of.

 

[TheWetRookie]

Gor for it! If he wants to dive and you think he is ready then do it.

Here are some problems that my son (11 at the time) had. He learned in cold water on the west coast, BC.

-in the open water, he did not like descending due to low vis, understandable, very comfortable once down though
-the rental gear was not very good, if your son dives wet, buy new gloves and boots for him. Keeping my sons hands and feet warm were a big issue, it was solved by buying new gloves and boots. I he dives dry, splurge and get the dry gloves, he will love you
-the 7mm wet suit was quit cumberson and restrictive in movement for an 11 year old, I suggest dry if possible
-wet gloves were restrictive also as there was loss of finger dexterity primarily and it showed up the most when it came to the mask removal and replacement while wearing the hood, in the pool, no problem
-then just the weight of everything for cold water diving, decrease the weight as much as possible. Physical strength being the issue


Other than these I can't think of anything else that he really had trouble with when learning. Hopefully this will help prepare your son better.

 

[Diver Dad]

Just an update on Dylan's progress at becoming a diver. We are in are second-week of class, and Dylan's been doing wonderful in the class room, and not too bad with all the tests, quick quizzes, and main objectives (underline/highlight the answers)In our open water diver manual. He's been learning so much, but sometimes he gets a little confused and ends up in "daydream-land", and this tends to frustrate me a little because I've seen him learn so much in the last couple of weeks, I keep forgetting sometimes that he is only 10. One of the things that gets me so upset is remembering when I was young and I took my dive course, no one had to tell me to read my book over and over again, I just did it, even though it was sometimes challenging, I just kept rereading each chapter several times over until it stuck in head, there was no one there to hold my hand, but then again I was 16 and he's only 10, I guess I should keep that in mind.

The other bump in the road is Dylan has been suffering from a cold, during the first class he wasn't able to tread water for 10 min. I had to put him in the sauna, he was so cold he was shivering, last night after our class session he wasn't able to go in the pool because of his coughing and sinus trouble, our instructor will let him make it up next week.

I do have some concerns for next week though, Dylan's not the biggest ten year old and his BCD is loose on him, it's the smallest BCD that they have for him, I seen this become an issue for another young boy last night. after watching my classmates thrash about in the water in a very uncomfortable way, I can't help but be concerned about Dylan's first experience on scuba, I seen more than one panic attack last night

Can anyone give me some advice on this matter? or maybe have some idea's on my coaching skills?

thx, Bill

 

[Mafiaman]

Can anyone give me some advice on this matter? or maybe have some idea's on my coaching skills?

thx, Bill

Yea, stop going to class with him you are a crutch. With out safty net daddy standing around he will step up. That is clear by how well he is doing on the academics, he has the ability, and kids always do better with the actual getting wet part.

 

[Diver Dad]

Yea, stop going to class with him you are a crutch. With out safty net daddy standing around he will step up. That is clear by how well he is doing on the academics, he has the ability, and kids always do better with the actual getting wet part.

(Pots #8)
Hey thanks for the replies everyone, I should explain I was certified about 20 years ago, but somehow my paperwork a passport photo went missing, so it never was sent into PADI, this never realy was to much of a problem locally, but well on holiday (Mexico, Aruba, vancouver island) it was a real let down. I found out that I would have to do the course over Its one of those things that I told myself that I would do someday, well I guess "someday" is here!

 

[fldiver1]

I agree with Mafiaman, stay away from him during this. My kids did the same thing until I backed away. Then he did what he needed to without question or hesitation. My sons first BCD was a little big on him also. Just something he had to deal with. We adjusted the cumberbund ALL THE WAY in to give him as much support as possible but that's about all we could do. One thing, don't let him use a weight int. BC for training. This way when he removes his kit, he won't float up. That is the hardest part for a kid, trying to pull themselves back down into thier rig. Also make sure he knows that when he removes his weight belt not to drop it but to hang on to it. If he does drop it on the bottom, he WILL get VERY frustrated trying to get back to it. Teach him to hang on to the belt when he removes it for training class. It's much easier BTW for kids to lay down on thier stomach on the bottom to replace the weight belt.

 

[Drewski]

Hi Diver Dad:

Having certified more than 75 kids in the age range of your son, I get the "feeling," just from reading your last post, that you may be "pushing" him somewhat. I don't mean this in a bad way, it's just an observation. If I'm reading it wrong, please accept my apology.

That said, making kids "comfortable" in the water is all about "COMFORT." If he's cold or sick, it's REALLY going to be TOUGH, especially if there is a part to him that is doing this because he wants to spend time with you or wants to show you he can do it. So, first up, you need to solve both of these issues. If it's a cold pool, get a 3mm short wetsuit made for kids. A number of on-line suppliers carry them.

Most kids at this age can adapt to "ill fitting" equipment in a pool environment provided they LIKE the water. If they don't like water, it's NOT going to work, no matter how much you may want it to. Using the smallest BC helps. If it's still too big, drop the cumber bund (if it has one) and just use the strap. This may help bring it in more. Also, and most importantly, use a small tank. Even a '63 may be too big for him. Go smaller if needed, it can REALLY help.

The easiest way to get kids "comfortable" with gear is let them "play." Most instructors make the mistake of treating kids like adults instead of letting them fool around. Stay serious during the instructional pool time, get the basic safety stuff down, but then let them PLAY underwater in the gear. I'd also suggest that you PLAY underwater with him as well and ENJOY yourself (trust me, you'll remember how to do this after a short time). Step out of the DAD mode for a while and pretend to be a kid. Do this for at least 15 minutes every pool session. It will relax him in the gear; make diving fun and take away some of the seriousness.

As far as the academics go, keep in mind that this stuff is written for adults. Try to relate information to him using examples. Kids learn best by SEEING and DOING, so be inventive. To demonstrate some of the "physical laws," use examples such as soda bottles, balloons, cups with water, etc. Get HIM involved in doing the demonstration. Keep it FUN. Also realize that he can only "understand" it to a certain level. I'd suggest impressing on him the important stuff and then preparing him to PASS a TEST. That might sound wrong, but keep in mind that only YOU will be his dive buddy for the next few years, NOT someone else. This means you have plenty of time to "teach" and re-enforce. Reviewing the "book" stuff by example before each dive is the easiest way to do this. Trying to get a 10 year old to understand the concept of "equivalent air depth" during the class session might not be easy. But teaching him how to calculate it as part of sitting down and doing dive planning BEFORE the dive (especially if he sees YOU doing this kind of stuff) really makes an impression.

Most kids at this age will excel in the physical aspects of this sport and enjoy it. Your job will be looking after him and "bumping" him in the right direction as he grows into it. Some of the BEST divers I've ever dived with started just like Dylan.

Good Luck! (Any pictures?)

 

[scuba 2447]

My son is 8 and has had a true obsescion with Scuba for the last 2 years so this last december I took him SNUBA diving in Maui that was a bad idea he is now more desperate to get his C-card. So we have compermised and he has a bubble makers class 1 sat. every month this summer he will be attending a PADI Seal team camp 4 days of diving in a pool including a night dive. I feel that the more he spends getting comfortable in the water with the gear the better off he will be when he turns 10 and gets his jr OW.

 

[Diver Dad]

Hi Diver Dad:

Having certified more than 75 kids in the age range of your son, I get the "feeling," just from reading your last post, that you may be "pushing" him somewhat. I don't mean this in a bad way, it's just an observation. If I'm reading it wrong, please accept my apology.

That said, making kids "comfortable" in the water is all about "COMFORT." If he's cold or sick, it's REALLY going to be TOUGH, especially if there is a part to him that is doing this because he wants to spend time with you or wants to show you he can do it. So, first up, you need to solve both of these issues. If it's a cold pool, get a 3mm short wetsuit made for kids. A number of on-line suppliers carry them.

Most kids at this age can adapt to "ill fitting" equipment in a pool environment provided they LIKE the water. If they don't like water, it's NOT going to work, no matter how much you may want it to. Using the smallest BC helps. If it's still too big, drop the cumber bund (if it has one) and just use the strap. This may help bring it in more. Also, and most importantly, use a small tank. Even a '63 may be too big for him. Go smaller if needed, it can REALLY help.

The easiest way to get kids "comfortable" with gear is let them "play." Most instructors make the mistake of treating kids like adults instead of letting them fool around. Stay serious during the instructional pool time, get the basic safety stuff down, but then let them PLAY underwater in the gear. I'd also suggest that you PLAY underwater with him as well and ENJOY yourself (trust me, you'll remember how to do this after a short time). Step out of the DAD mode for a while and pretend to be a kid. Do this for at least 15 minutes every pool session. It will relax him in the gear; make diving fun and take away some of the seriousness.

As far as the academics go, keep in mind that this stuff is written for adults. Try to relate information to him using examples. Kids learn best by SEEING and DOING, so be inventive. To demonstrate some of the "physical laws," use examples such as soda bottles, balloons, cups with water, etc. Get HIM involved in doing the demonstration. Keep it FUN. Also realize that he can only "understand" it to a certain level. I'd suggest impressing on him the important stuff and then preparing him to PASS a TEST. That might sound wrong, but keep in mind that only YOU will be his dive buddy for the next few years, NOT someone else. This means you have plenty of time to "teach" and re-enforce. Reviewing the "book" stuff by example before each dive is the easiest way to do this. Trying to get a 10 year old to understand the concept of "equivalent air depth" during the class session might not be easy. But teaching him how to calculate it as part of sitting down and doing dive planning BEFORE the dive (especially if he sees YOU doing this kind of stuff) really makes an impression.

Most kids at this age will excel in the physical aspects of this sport and enjoy it. Your job will be looking after him and "bumping" him in the right direction as he grows into it. Some of the BEST divers I've ever dived with started just like Dylan.

Good Luck! (Any pictures?)

Yes your right Im probably pushing to hared, one thing that I didn't mention, I may be coming down on him a little to hared because of some school/home-work problems we're having with Dylan! hes a very smart boy when he feels like it! and then there are times that Im not sure where his head is at:shakehead

 

[grassyknoll]

Diverdad,

My experience somewhat mirrored what your going through (post #60). You are getting good advice above, IMHO you should talk with the instrctor and or DMs and have them work with your son while you watch from afar. I was having the same problem being a "crutch" for my daughter. Once she was focused with the DM all her outs were gone and sh performed flawlessly.
The only other thing I might add, and tyhis is something only you and your son would know, is that you can't want it more for him than he does.

I hope all turns out well. I am taking my daughter to Key West in May and can't wait for her to experience it!