Teaching my daughter scuba diving?

[EastEndDiver]

Perhaps the level of standards are different but the quality of people isn't. There are still some who are capable of making decisions for themselves and using common sense. Of course, there is also a whole cadre of others who would desperately love to snuff out any attempt at that - sort of like this thread.

I have to disagree with this statement ,there are too many people who refuse to take responsibility for their own actions and attempt to blame others for them.It is quite evident in our society (U.S.A.) .

 

[tracydr]

Perhaps the OP is just demonstrating confidence, not over confidence. Doing something without an instructor present isn't the defining criterion. In fact, I'd say this obsession with needing a "professional" to guide every movement in diving speaks to a lack of confidence.

In all of this there is a happy median. Some things are better served by formalized instruction and others can be accomplished by self study, mentorship or the application of good old fashioned common sense. Diving is not any more "special" than driving, riding, skiing, climbing or any number of other risk attached activities; all of which have formal/informal avenues of learning.
Diving is not special.
However, I am.

Except that you can drown, die, in just a few minutes.
I ride horses (jumping and foxhunting). I used to be a serious skier. I have a lot of respect for the danger of each sport. But, I still won't do a 10 foot deep dive in our local lake without a knife and buddy and full per-dive equipment check. The risk of entanglement and drowning are simply far too great.
the more I dive, the more I learn to respect the dangers. When I was at 50-100 dives, I felt pretty immortal, impervious to the dangers. Somehow, the more experience I get, the more I appreciate how very easy it is to die while diving.

 

[BDSC]

The notion that one cannot learn without the guidance of a "professional" is ridiculous.

Perhaps the OP is just demonstrating confidence, not over confidence. Doing something without an instructor present isn't the defining criterion. In fact, I'd say this obsession with needing a "professional" to guide every movement in diving speaks to a lack of confidence.

In all of this there is a happy median. Some things are better served by formalized instruction and others can be accomplished by self study, mentorship or the application of good old fashioned common sense. Diving is not any more "special" than driving, riding, skiing, climbing or any number of other risk attached activities; all of which have formal/informal avenues of learning.
Diving is not special.
However, I am.

There are still some who are capable of making decisions for themselves and using common sense. --------------------------------------------------------------
I don't think anyone is missing anything. Some of us are just not paralyzed by fear..........

You, my friend, are a voice of reason! Very refreshing to read your posts. Learning to dive is pretty basic and quite easy to do. I see nothing wrong at all with the OP helping his daughter learn some of the basic skills. Good for you dad!

 

[bluejaykaren]

If it is basic skills like mask clearing,manually inflating, droping weights,and kit doning in the water I think she is lucky to get that extra practice in the gear she will be using after cert. Besides all of those snorkeling skills,we also taught our daughter not to ever hold her breath underwater because I was already a diver when she learned to swim. When she was 5 I over heard her tell a friend that she wasn't doing it right because she was suppose to blow bubbles when she swam underwater. Should I have waited 8 years for a scuba intructor to ingrain that into her 2 weeks before she was in the open ocean? I think the skills that are locked into your muscle memory can be the difference of the outcome of an incident. More often then not people don't practice those simple life saving basics after certification because they either don't want to keep their buddies waiting while they do them or they want to spend the time doing the fun stuff, not drills. How many times have we read death reports where the person forgot to manually inflate and to drop their weights. Over confidence is when you do something 4 times, in class, and think you will think of it in an emergency. Every second spent practicing those is seconds well spent. What would he teach her different from the instuctor. Wether to turn air on all the way on or to back off some? Where to clip the gauges? Like all agree on that anyway. You don't get good trim and bouyancy from a class, you get it from practice.
You do not need to be scuba rescue certified to save someone from drowning in your pool. How many millions of pool owners do you think have that cert. We took a red cross class the first week we moved into a house with a pool.

 

[windapp]

If it is basic skills like mask clearing,manually inflating, droping weights,and kit doning in the water I think she is lucky to get that extra practice in the gear she will be using after cert. Besides all of those snorkeling skills,we also taught our daughter not to ever hold her breath underwater because I was already a diver when she learned to swim. When she was 5 I over heard her tell a friend that she wasn't doing it right because she was suppose to blow bubbles when she swam underwater. Should I have waited 8 years for a scuba intructor to ingrain that into her 2 weeks before she was in the open ocean? I think the skills that are locked into your muscle memory can be the difference of the outcome of an incident. More often then not people don't practice those simple life saving basics after certification because they either don't want to keep their buddies waiting while they do them or they want to spend the time doing the fun stuff, not drills. How many times have we read death reports where the person forgot to manually inflate and to drop their weights. Over confidence is when you do something 4 times, in class, and think you will think of it in an emergency. Every second spent practicing those is seconds well spent. What would he teach her different from the instuctor. Wether to turn air on all the way on or to back off some? Where to clip the gauges? Like all agree on that anyway. You don't get good trim and bouyancy from a class, you get it from practice.
You do not need to be scuba rescue certified to save someone from drowning in your pool. How many millions of pool owners do you think have that cert. We took a red cross class the first week we moved into a house with a pool.

Actually, freediving you should never let go of your breath (except what you require to equalize your mask and ears) until you are at the surface and have air available for another breath. This is a huge rule because you carry the majority of available oxygen in your lungs.

 

[phoenix31tt]

dale and bdsc answer me this honestly

when you see articles like "ow diver dies while exploring caves or ow diver dies @ 200 ft while catching lobster"... what would you think/say about the diver...

i suppose any responsible diver would first ask... why were they doing that.. were they trained to do such.. did they have any experience?...

would that be your reaction? or would you be like.. cudos for diver for being "brave"...

who knows how the OP would react in an emergency situation even in 10' of water... does the op know himself how to react?... you all are seeming to ignore the simple point im making... what stops daughter now from doing the same in the future.. say entering a wreck even though she was not trained to do such.. (this is essentially what he is doing)...

again to OP... get her trained/certified by a good instructor and then work with her to gain the experience and confidence...

you dont know what you dont know... and not being trained or having any experience to do training means there are things you dont know that you should

 

[offroadr1]

you dont have to be trained to know how to wipe your ass.

 

[BDSC]

dale and bdsc answer me this honestly

when you see articles like "ow diver dies while exploring caves or ow diver dies @ 200 ft while catching lobster"... what would you think/say about the diver...

i suppose any responsible diver would first ask... why were they doing that.. were they trained to do such.. did they have any experience?...

would that be your reaction? or would you be like.. cudos for diver for being "brave"...

Like you said, most folks would ask the very questions you asked. Were they properly trained to do the dives they were doing. If no then I don't say they were "brave", I'd say they were dumb. But we are talking about a dad showing his daughter some basic scuba skills in a pool. We are not talking about doing cave and deep dives and the consequences of that. There is a world of difference.

who knows how the OP would react in an emergency situation even in 10' of water... does the op know himself how to react?...

Who knows how anyone is going to react in an emergency? The OP has implied he has CPR training. I don't know him and neither do you but if he feels confident in his abilities to handle an emergency that is highly unlikely to ever happen then that's good enough for me and I suspect his daughter as well.

you all are seeming to ignore the simple point im making... what stops daughter now from doing the same in the future.. say entering a wreck even though she was not trained to do such.. (this is essentially what he is doing)...

NO. That's not what he is doing at all. Not even close. The fact that he is going to have her take the class and that he won't take her out in the ocean until she has taken such a class shows how responsible he is with his approach. You can't see that?

you dont know what you dont know...

The most over used line ever on ScubaBoard.

 

[redacted]

dale and bdsc answer me this honestly

when you see articles like "ow diver dies while exploring caves or ow diver dies @ 200 ft while catching lobster"... what would you think/say about the diver...

i suppose any responsible diver would first ask... why were they doing that.. were they trained to do such.. did they have any experience?...

would that be your reaction? or would you be like.. cudos for diver for being "brave"...

who knows how the OP would react in an emergency situation even in 10' of water... does the op know himself how to react?... you all are seeming to ignore the simple point im making... what stops daughter now from doing the same in the future.. say entering a wreck even though she was not trained to do such.. (this is essentially what he is doing)...

again to OP... get her trained/certified by a good instructor and then work with her to gain the experience and confidence...

you dont know what you dont know... and not being trained or having any experience to do training means there are things you dont know that you should

How did you ever learn to ride a bicycle? Where did you find a certified bicycle instructor?

 

[rhwestfall]

It all boils down to the student. When they present to the instructor, it should never be, "this is what I was shown by someone else", but rather follow the instruction and requirements of the instructor. Anything gained by your work with them, be it before, during, or after is a bonus.... It’s a supplement, not a substitute....And it appears that is your approach....


I have raised my child, educating and training her in many things of life and, continue to do so. Did I have to be a formal teacher to do these things? I think not. I also recognize when it is time to allow those with more of a specialty to "take over", though I will still play an active role.

Hats off to you dad!

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How did you ever learn to ride a bicycle? Where did you find a certified bicycle instructor?

Or even walk? I bet more people die yearly from falls than scuba.......