Teen Daughter Draging Her Feet

[CDFDiveMaster]

Hey, any advice from you younger divers as to what motivated you to get into diving and why your diving (girls especially). It seems like my daughter (14) is procrastinating on finishing her OW class. All she has left is pool and dives. Any suggestion on motivating her let me know.

Dad

 

[devolution365]

You wouldn't have ever had to motivate me!!!

Maybe it's just not her thing...

 

[CDFDiveMaster]

She is really intrested in diving the problem is the mall....if they only had an underwater mall...

 

[devolution365]

Ha!
Perhaps I was wrong and it's the teenage issue of whether to spend time with friends or family... Maybe if you pay for her friends to get certified too?

Good luck!

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

Tough age. I saw they same type of thing with my kids in karate. Once they hit 14 that was it.

They change so signifacantly from year to year when they're teenagers-maybe she'll decide on her own to finish it up when she gets older?

 

[Missdirected]

Hmmm....my son will do lots of things with me, maybe not lots, but more if I take his friends. Maybe the pay for a friend isn't such a far fetched idea. At this age friends seem as important as food and water/life and death. I have found if I give him enough advance notice and say "on this weekend we are going to (you fill in the blank). Or by this date "I want you to have done..." He will then work things in and plan for them. Or play the poor dad card! I have. Works pretty good when your desperate. Say, "Honey, on this date I am taking u to wherever your getting older and I need to spend a little time with you. You are always with your friends.
The good old guilt trip, lol.

 

[ch0ppersrule]

Hey, any advice from you younger divers as to what motivated you to get into diving and why your diving (girls especially). It seems like my daughter (14) is procrastinating on finishing her OW class. All she has left is pool and dives. Any suggestion on motivating her let me know.

Dad

Our daughter was really interested in diving so she started her class and decided diving wasn't her thing. She only decided that after she had 1 skill left. She was on dive #4 (in the ocean) and did all the skills but 1. It took almost the entire 1 year to get it completed. I told her to finish it now and she wouldn't have to take all the tests and complete all the skills when she decided she was ready again. She will only need to pay for a refresher class (which is WAY cheaper than the OW class) and she will only need to do a few skills. She finished and hasn't dove since. She is soon to be 13. I would just let her know to finish the class then she won't have to take all the exams again.

Melissa

 

[Taylor86]

Hmmm....my son will do lots of things with me, maybe not lots, but more if I take his friends. Maybe the pay for a friend isn't such a far fetched idea. At this age friends seem as important as food and water/life and death. I have found if I give him enough advance notice and say "on this weekend we are going to (you fill in the blank). Or by this date "I want you to have done..." He will then work things in and plan for them. Or play the poor dad card! I have. Works pretty good when your desperate. Say, "Honey, on this date I am taking u to wherever your getting older and I need to spend a little time with you. You are always with your friends.
The good old guilt trip, lol.

tell her it will get the boys that WILL work... (just make sure they are nice boys )

 

[alcina]

Good luck with it! Our oldest was very keen and went through to Rescue Diver - then stopped diving. When we would go out, he didn't want to get out of bed or said he'd rather hang with his friends. He has just started snorkelling/freediving again (he's 18 now, restarted at about 17) but only if his mates can come along. We tried the learn with a friend thing, but his friends weren't keen divers so that didn't last long...

It's an age.

Perhaps, and this is not the cheapest solution, a family vacation where she can finish her certification, get in a few fun dives with Dad and see if it is her thing at this stage.

At 14 the mall and her friends are higher priority than getting in the water or spending quality time with Dad it sounds like. And I'd say, from my limited child-rearing experience, this is pretty normal.

The other thing is she may NOT be comfortable with learning to dive, no matter what she says. She may have issues about the skills, about the cold, about being all wet with snot coming out her nose in public or it may be that she isn't that interested. Any or all or something different - I wouldn't hold my breath about a parent knowing what is truly going on inside a teenager's brain. By that age girls are pretty good at showing only what they want to show a lot of the time. Perhaps she is trying to please you by seeming to be interested (completing the theory) but now putting off the rest of it for one reason or another but not coming clean as she doesn't want to disappoint you. It is clear that you really want her to dive. I don't understand it, but that could be happening.

I'd be flexible and keep it on the table for her to do as she is ready for it.

 

[bahloola]

i am 23 and started diving when i was 18 just decided i wanted to try something and have been loving it ever since but it would have been much better if a friend of mine would have joined me. she may be afraid of something or not like something about it u should try and find that out before u keep asking her to finish. and try and get an answer out of her on why she keeps procrastinating and slacking u might be surprised dont buy the mall thing 14 is a little to early for that