I did not want to make this issue controversial, nor did I want to get defensive just because I get a chance to be part of the program at its local inception, but perhaps I should define the senario:
SASY appears to be marketted to diving parents whose kids are tagging along on family diving vacations. My students are at-risk teens whose families would not likely have the money to buy them a simple snorkel. They qualify for a program that lends them the gear for the 2 days they are learning in the pool. Then they get a day at the ocean under our supervision, and we are all volunteers.
SASY is simple to teach & learn. The kids learn to assemble the gear & take it apart & clean it. They learn to use it in the water & use buddy protocol. They practice entries & exits. If we were to teach them to use a regular snorkel in addition to the SASY system, we would have to take extra time, which is not part of the program, so we just don't give them a snorkel since they won't have time to learn to use it safely.
The teens almost invariably have never seen an ocean before much less have been in moving water. They have plenty on their mind as the kelp brushes their legs (they find this terrifying), the crabs crawl on the rocks that they are climbing over, and as the currents pull them. For most, this will be the only day they ever use SASY gear, but if they master the skills, they receive a "C" card for SASY which will allow them to do the skill wherever SASY is offered.
Every so often, a kid will inquire about underwater careers as a result of the program. Most cannot imagine having an expensive hobby just for fun! The idea of such a program is A) to plant a seed in the minds of kids that diving is fun & interesting and B) to take some kids with limited lives & opportunities to an element so alien to them that they cannot hide behind bravado & bad behavior. They have to learn to cooperate & face fears they did not know they had. Thus, SASY is no repalcement for regular snorkelling skills and it is certainly not a full scuba course (although we sometimes change up the program to allow for a scuba adventure in the deep end for those who can clear their ears). It can play a role of value regardless.
As the curriculum solidifies, I could see this as an alternative for summer camps, church youth groups, boy/girl scout troups, and park district programs. It would probably generate quite a few future divers, but for the most part, it would give lots of kids a chance to taste a one-time adventure. IF taught poorly, it could scare potential students away (kids are afraid of the strangest things).
