Should Children Dive?

[got4boyz]

My oldest is 12 and was just recently certified and is a fine little diver. My just barely turned 11 yo just needs to do his open water checkout (he needs a bit more practice in the pool) and he'll be certified, and I daresay, he is a better diver than his brother who is 1 1/2 years older.

Like Rick, I wouldn't dive with my children as my buddy, but my husband and I will dive with them together. It wouldn't be wise to leave your life in the hands of your child. Can you imagine the trauma that would cause in their life if something went wrong and they couldn't save you!!!

Yes, I let my children dive.

But they are begging for a four-wheeler for Christmas. Will I get them one? NO WAY!!!

 

[ScubaDon]

I think it is definitely something that has to be taken on an individual basis. During my OW class there were two kids that were taking the class with their parents, one was 15 and the other 17. During one of our pool sessions, during free time, the two of them were in the deep end of the pool and one would hold the other down while he fully inflated his BC and see how far out of the water they would shoot when let go.

During our open water dives the instructers were constantly having to go after them for either going too deep or again playing with their inflators.

I am sure this is an isolated case, or is it? Some kids/teens just don't feel that anything can happen to them, the superman syndrome. I don't know that I would want to put my life on the line diving with one of these kids. Even if it was my own son, which will be starting his OW certification in a couple of weeks, if I saw that he wasn't taking things seriously and had that kind of attitude I wouldn't let him finish the class until he changed, or got older.

 

[Jarhead]

Not in shallow water, they'll hit the bottom and hurt something.
And they shouldn't run around the pool, either.

 

[got4boyz]

Jarhead once bubbled...
Not in shallow water, they'll hit the bottom and hurt something.
And they shouldn't run aroung the pool, either.

LOL Jarhead, good one!

 

[skipjack28]

Don't get me wrong I think kids should dive
only if their parents dive.
Then there are adults who definitely shouldn't dive.
And there are kids who should not dive like those that scubadon mentioned who obviously dont take it seriously enough.
Not all people regardless of age make good divers.
But how many instructors out there would weed these people out. NOT MANY. Its a business. MONEY.
If you started the process at say age thirteen there would at least be some kind of balance.
Possibly younger 12, 13, versus 15, 17, could be better. No fearless syndrome. But how young would you start training?

 

[AquaTec]

But how young would you start training?

I started at 9, my kids started at 7 and 9 respectively

I see why so many are against kids and diving, it can be directly rleated to the other thread "is diving dangerous"
I am supprised to see how many think diving is dangerous, i think you will find a direct corrilation to the two posts.

if you make diving dangerous then do not expose your kids to it.
if you make diving a safe sport then by all means introduce your kids to the fun of diving.

 

[Nessie]

Does anybody know an Instructor who waited until his/her child was 12 years before taking them down in the pool? I don´t.
I think it is important to keep it on the fun side and leave the responsibility out until they are ready for that. But there is no reason not to start early with training. I spent my summer holidays teaching my 4 year old brother how to snorkel and how to clear his mask. He was enjoying it. What´s wrong with teaching him next how to breath with a regulator at the surface? My personal opinion: Take everything in smaller steps than with adult students and a good Instructor will realize when it is enough for that child at that time, let he/she continue training what (s)he is able to do and show them how they can already have fun until the skills and the mental development have progressed far enough to go on.

 

[mudguppy]

ScubaDon once bubbled...
one would hold the other down while he fully inflated his BC and see how far out of the water they would shoot when let go.

LOL!

Loose the regulator and that sounds like great fun to me!

 

[daylight]

MudGuppy,
Working with the Kids in Scuba Rangers is fun. It's like herding cats.
I've assisted with a few sessions. We keep the ratio to no more than 2:1. As an example, for a group of 6 "rangers" we have three chaperones in the water and one top-side observer. The pool environment is four to six ft. Even with that low ratio, you are very busy keeping up with the slippery little devils. Most of the "activities" teach bouyancy skills.
The kids do fine with the mechanical aspects such as gear assembly/disassembly, asending/desending, mask clearing, and regulator removal/replacement. They are 8 to 12 year old children and playing in this highly controlled environment is fun.
IMHO this doesn't constuite diving. They are playing in a shallow pool breathing from a regulator and developing a few skills while being closely supervised. Using properly sized equipment is important.
The "Should kids dive?" question is like religion and politics. The best answer I've seen is "It depends". I've observed situations where Certified parents and children are all liabilities and scare me just seeing them in the water. On the other hand, I've also seen Mom, Dad and the Kids function as a highly skilled dive team.
I approach Scuba Rangers from a different perspective than students wanting to become certified divers.
It's all fun.

Just my $.02.
DSAO,
Larry

 

[Cherry]

My wife, 4 daughters and I were recently certified and it was a great experience to do it as a family together. I suspect at least for two of them I have introduced them to a lifelong obsession. The other two just like looking at stuff. One based on Docs's post above may have to modify her experiences. I really appreciate this thread and the efforts all of you have put into answering the question. My 2 cents....During our OW course my wife and one daughter had difficulties with breathing UW. I acted as a cheerleader motivateing them to keep going. And it is a very fine line between support and pushing. It took some time to understand that they have to learn to recognize situations that they arnt up to and say no. Even to the point of saying No to me ( heheh something I generally discourage) Should kids dive ? Every kid that wants to experince it should be allowed to be exposed to UW enviroments to the level of their abilities. For many that means just swimming UW at the pool for some it means programs like Bubble blowers or rangers. For some like my 2nd oldest it probably means showing their old man how to DIR. It does mean every Instructor needs the skills to be able to Asess a child's capability. i dearly hope this portion of the Instructors cirriculum is extensive. I suspect it isnt extensive enough...but for a father my kids can never be too safe eh