Should Children Dive?

[mudguppy]

I have been approached to help teach the "Scuba Rangers". I understand there are pros and cons to children diving, so I am interested in the opinions of the Scuba Board.
Knowledge is power.


Thanks for the input ahead of time.

 

[Paco]

they should but with careful supervision, of course

 

[Fishkiller]

Humm

Well I have several thoughts/questions here are a few, Knowing that the PADI Seal Team has been wonderful for my son who is on track to be certified by his 10th birthday, in December.

A childs mind or a childs body?

Do they understand the issues?

Can they handle the Equipment?

Would they be able to help you, in a emergency?

After watching my son in a pool with other children even the other parents were impressed on his skills; There was a fun time when a few Dads joined the kids in the deep end, I took the chance and came up from behind my son, grabbed his tank holding him in place, hidding from his view after a few minutes let him go... after the dive I asked him if anything was strange about that dive, his response was that his new "Tilos" fins didn't work to well.

When he finally gets certified will I dive with him? Why of course!! but only to the level of his skills and my own ability to dive alone,
though when we go to San Carlos on our dive trip, we will do so in a 3-way buddy team of some sort.

There are idiots and there are people who think, no age requirement for being either.

By the time my Child does get certified I trust he will remember to put on his fins after he gets in the water

 

[Ontario Diver]

This topic has been discussed before.

My opinion....

There are some kids who can dive safely and some kids who cannot. Just like there are some "adults" who should not be diving and many who can.

There are some points to consider

- physical ability (manage equipment, carry tanks etc.)
- mental ability (understand the tables, rules etc)
- maturity (focus on dive during the dive, follow the rules, dive within limits, etc)

Also there is the risk of higher pressures and higher PPO2 on growing bodies. So restrictions on depth for children make sense.


Just like adults, dive training must be done on an individual basis.

However, with one 11 yo diving and an 8 yo looking ahead - Seal Team or Scuba Rangers starts looking good!

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

My boys are 6 and 4. Obviously way too young to consider diving but I am looking forward to diving together as soon as they express an interest and are old enough. I also know that my wife will get certified at that time just to keep an eye on the kids. I can't wait.

 

[cobaltbabe]

Although I am not certified yet, both of my children want to do it as well. I think that it will depend on their maturity level when we hit that point.

 

[chepar]

I have a 6 year old that - eventually - I would love to share my diving obsession with. However, despite my desire to share one of the coolest things I have ever done with her, my main concern overall is for her well being and safety.

As she is still so young, I haven't really seriously given too much thought to this subject, but it has been lurking in the back of my mind. The risks that have been mentioned above regarding growing bodies concerns me, but to be honest, I haven't yet done an in depth assessment of all the issues and my daughter's capabilities, as there are quite a few years before I will even seriously consider this.

All that being said, I doubt I would get my daughter involved in diving before turning 13 or 14. But that's just my opinion. As said in the earlier posts, each child needs to be evaluated individually.

 

[AquaTec]

They should deffinetly dive within the limits of their training, maturity, and experience....also i believe diving inviroment is important..

I started diving at about 9 and my kids started at 7 and 9
there diving experience has not been outside the comunity pool yet and they are now 9 and 11....that is because the inviroment here is not condusive to it.

my 11 year old does not want to dive in the ocean because of all the stuff down there, so she is content to dive in the pool. my youngest one want to be a fish and get down there with all the other fishies.

this last weekend i took the whole fourth grade class diving, in the pool, they where on an incredible adventure. of course there where a few who where not ready for it, and they quietly found something else to do, via my proding.

most older kids i have trained [high school] are better divers than the adults, they are trained to pay attention in class, follow direction, and they are comfortable learning new things.
are they able to deal with complex emergencies etc. i think as capable as some adult divers, and i think they understand their limits as well or better than some adults.

now physilogicaly is diving going to stunt their growth....I grew up in Hawaii where kids have been diving for 30 years or more, it is more a part of their life as opposed to a sport, and i don't think anyof them have experienced stunted growth etc.

a lot of people here feel that diving is so dangerous, life threatning, so forien, and all of that, they just couldn't imagine putting kids in harms way.

diving is not difficult nor life threatning..yes you can make it that way, but you can do that to any sport.
I see more kids 15 - 25 getting severly damaged on the ski slopes than anybody will ever see in the ocean

is diving really more harmfull or damgerous than say motorcycle riding, skiing, driving, surfing, snowboarding, water skiing, or what ever other sports kids do...lets not even get into football

 

[A. J. Shark]

just wondering how young are we talking here??

 

[DiveTub]

On A different Note
Should our pets be able to dive with us as well ?