Should Children Dive?

[scuba-punk]

i have a niece who just turned seven, has been using a sasy/snorkel for 3 years and knows enough hand signals, rules, etc. to blow your mind. as a dm in training, i am working with a guy who is 3 times as old as my niece and, imho, shouldn't be anywhere near the water for a good while yet. i don't know that my niece will be ready for full blown scuba by ten, but who knows. it just seems like a huge responsibility to place on a ten year old to make them your buddy. what's it going to do to a kid if something happens to you during the dive? just a thought...

 

[mudguppy]

MNScuba once bubbled...
Define 'Children' if it hasn't been defined already (sorry, didn't want to read through all the posts, nor did I have time).

So....I'm wondering if you will read thru to find this reply

Just had to give you a bad time...
Too funny!

The question was geared toward the 8-12 year old rangers.

There are also definitions of a child along with the long asked question of:
"do guys ever grow up"?

Alot of very good info in those pages...sorry.....you'll just have to take a minute (or 5) and read thru. (I think it's worth it). Alot of good info there.
May even get a chuckle here and there.

MG

 

[DiverBuoy]

roakey once bubbled...
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lpt/kids.htm

While searching the web for PFO sites.

Roak

Now what would be even more perfect is if the author...

Larry "Harris" Taylor, Ph.D. is a biochemist and Diving Safety Coordinator at the University of Michigan.

...was also in pediatric medicine and child psychology.

 

[Hamlet]

Yes I think children should definitely dive, within the limits of their abilities and training. My daughter qualified for her junior open water at 12. The first 5 to 10 dives we did together were a complete nightmare. Not that she was diving badly just that I could not relax and never saw anything but her. The watchful parent side of me overruling everything else. Now after having completed 40 dives together I can honestly say it’s a very enjoyable and rewarding experience to dive with your own children, I for one feel lucky to be able to do this.

 

[Rick Murchison]

scubapunk-17055 once bubbled...
it just seems like a huge responsibility to place on a ten year old to make them your buddy.

A child is not a buddy. See my previous posts. The question of children diving always gets twisted around to children being buddies - which they are not prepared to be, not physically strong enough to be, and cannot be. But they can dive as children so long as we provide the environment for their dives where they can be children... realize your child is your child and not your buddy. If you want a buddy take a buddy too. The child isn't one.
Rick

 

[Hamlet]

A child is not a buddy, I totally agree with you on that one. Perhaps some people think differently but I certainly would not put that kind of pressure on a child. The fact that I dive with my daughter does not mean that I rely on her as a buddy. I believe that anyone diving with a child or rookie diver should treat the dive as a solo dive. What I mean by that is, I would not expect rescue from them. Much the same as an instructor taking out trainee divers. When diving with children the dive sites should be carefully selected and the depth kept to a minimum. Where I dive with my daughter is usually around 6 to 8 meters. I find we can have good dives and enjoy the best of the marine life the reef has to offer in complete safety.

 

[mddolson]

Rick and Hamlet, I agree 100%.

When you dive with a child , you are not diving with a buddy. Diving with a child is much like a teacher-student dive.

You are 100% resposible for yourself and them.

Mike D
:blfish:

 

[Butch103]

My son began diving at age 14. He wasn't above average in build or height oor intelligence. He could however carry all his gear where ever and when ever he was required, many of the adult female students couldn't. He passed the exam with the 3rd highest mark in his course. Should he dive or not ??

Now in his class there was a "kid" about 12 who was an odnoxious brat. Mom and Dad had know idea about diving and where bringing him Mc"D" s food during the OW sessions and pop for drinks. They wouldn't listen to the instructor about drinking water. Kid didn't like water. The funny part was that during the OW while in the water at chest deep dooning their swimfins he fell over (wouldn't use his buddy for help) and started floating away ( he was on his back like a turtle) .....he was screaming for help, and the instructor by then had his fillof him and was tempted to let him " go out with the tide".. The kid did not get his certification...................:boom:

 

[Rick Murchison]

Butch103 once bubbled...
Now in his class there was a "kid" about 12 who was an odnoxious brat. Mom and Dad had no idea about diving

Children's safe and successful diving has far, far more to do with their parents than with the children themselves. Training the parents is part of the job of training children - the parents don't necessarily have to sit in class or go through the pool sessions, but I have to have a warm fuzzy feeling about their underwater parenting skills before I'll turn their child back over to 'em with a "C" card. How I accomplish this varies depending on the parent - but as a minimum they must dive with their child on two Gulf dives (or equivalent) under my watchful eye before they're cleared to go. I have some of 'em dive all six qual dives together - depends on the situation and what's going to work best for each parent(s)-child(ren) group.
Rick

 

[IndyScott]

I have divmaster for 12 year olds and they did fine but I still feel It should be the same age as drinking age for responabilty..

And I do feel 21 is way to old for the drinking age.:doctor: