Hi folks!
I had looked up the merit badge deal some years back & I made a mistake thinking I had found a deal on how to get a merit badge. Wrong! Been there before.... Probably will do it again.... Oh Well!
How about this.....
PADI offers a way for scouts to get further training without a lot of problems & even if it is not a way to get a Merit Badge to flash, you can get patches to display on your suit or in other ways.
Scouts can get the Adventure diver patch within the 60' guides. A lot of the training can be done at home in classroom & local dive sites. The class requirements can be done in advance of a trip to the warmer waters of the southern reaches of the globe.
But now the bad..... In many instances I have found a lack of readiness for diving sports. Many fail at the standard skills so necessary to diving safety. There seems to be a total lack of readiness in the more advanced skills needed to safely complete diving at night, in open ocean, or in the skills required to use a compass satisfactory in the basic of diving scenarios - a skill supposedly acquired early on in a Scouts career.
There may be other ways to get these skills on the horizon. But this will only work if the Scouts & thier leaders are willing to make a commitment to training & preperation prior to going to these dive areas that make diving fun.
So..... lets pull together to get these Scouts PREPARED to get these certifications when the opprotunity presents itself by doing a whole lot more preperation at home.
My 2 cents worth!
Grady Hardin MSDT
I had looked up the merit badge deal some years back & I made a mistake thinking I had found a deal on how to get a merit badge. Wrong! Been there before.... Probably will do it again.... Oh Well!
How about this.....
PADI offers a way for scouts to get further training without a lot of problems & even if it is not a way to get a Merit Badge to flash, you can get patches to display on your suit or in other ways.
Scouts can get the Adventure diver patch within the 60' guides. A lot of the training can be done at home in classroom & local dive sites. The class requirements can be done in advance of a trip to the warmer waters of the southern reaches of the globe.
But now the bad..... In many instances I have found a lack of readiness for diving sports. Many fail at the standard skills so necessary to diving safety. There seems to be a total lack of readiness in the more advanced skills needed to safely complete diving at night, in open ocean, or in the skills required to use a compass satisfactory in the basic of diving scenarios - a skill supposedly acquired early on in a Scouts career.
There may be other ways to get these skills on the horizon. But this will only work if the Scouts & thier leaders are willing to make a commitment to training & preperation prior to going to these dive areas that make diving fun.
So..... lets pull together to get these Scouts PREPARED to get these certifications when the opprotunity presents itself by doing a whole lot more preperation at home.
My 2 cents worth!
Grady Hardin MSDT
