When should you flunk a student

[baltimoron]

hahah i can see it now, "Oh Jesus, some crazy punk is saving my life!!!!!!!"

 

[Afraid_of_Fish]

hahah i can see it now, "Oh Jesus, some crazy punk is saving my life!!!!!!!"

hahah I can see the stories in Scuba magazine: "I saw this teenager swimming towards me, and even though I was out of air I started to swim away, when it gave me it's octopus. I don't how it ever thought to do that..."

 

[del_mo]

I'll bet someone who shouldn't have passed yet gets their certification will quickly learn scuba isn't fun. Neither fun for them or for their buddy! We had a guy like this in our class and no one wanted to get near him. However he made the rest of us feel like experienced divers!

 

[scuba_frog]

Del_Mo I have that person in our club. This guys scores an exact 75% on the written. Not sure how that computes when each question is 2 points. He got 13 wrong. The way I figure that should be a 74%...guess that's the accountant in me huh. Then on his OW test, he did all but drown. After he passed, he wanted to go diving. No one would dive with him. Finally he asked me. When I asked him how much air he had because I was almost out, this idiot never checked. He had 300# left.

THEN, he was at the last OW checkout to "help out", the instructor that passed him almost had to rescue him as he freaked when his mask got kicked off by a student. Why he was that close to fins is beyond me. But hey, as long as I'm not buddied up with him...not my problem.

 

[underwater daphne]

i did my ow when i was 12 and had a lot of experience with the sea growing up on an island. my dad was a diver and the resort my parents ran had a dive center as well. as a kid i learnt a lot about the dangers of diving as unfortunately some divers/snorkellers/swimmers died during that time.
my owd course was very professional and we practiced a lot in swimming pools, sometimes even at night.
afterwards i usually dived with my father who is very safety conscious. this way i learnt there is nothing more important than safety, and having a buddy means you have to look out for each other. i've dived with various ppl since, but seldom had the feeling of having a proper buddy, more like someone doing the same thing next to you.

since i quit diving after we moved to switzerland i decided to repeat my owd a few years ago (i'm 25 now). what should i say, i don't really approve of padi's certifying policy or the policy of some instructors. since i totally hated diving in the lake, my instructor let me off easy by adding some dives to my log book and telling me to hush. i didn't care since i had been certified before and i really hated the freezing lake dive. still looking back, i didn't have the card to prove it and the instructor only saw me underwater during that one short lake dive.
another thing, i had too many mistakes for my written owd both times. isn't it nice that they just explain your mistakes with you briefly and then ask you to sign the statement below, saying you now understand.
owd is, i think, the most important course you'll do as a rec diver. whatever you learn later is based on your owd. there should be particular emphasize on that course, no matter at what age. i doubt the sport will disapear just because ppl actually have to know skills that are sometimes difficult to pass.

 

[underwater daphne]

THEN, he was at the last OW checkout to "help out", the instructor that passed him almost had to rescue him as he freaked when his mask got kicked off by a student. Why he was that close to fins is beyond me. But hey, as long as I'm not buddied up with him...not my problem.

if ur hanging out on the same dive, it kinda would also become ur problem. is there no way to report ppl like that?

 

[scuba_frog]

Not sure who you would report to. Are you saying to report the instructor or the student? This student should not be diving or at least should be diving with a VERY experienced person. Having my certification less than a year, in my opinion, does not qualify me to be his dive buddy. Personally, I think someone experienced (ie an instructor) needs to pull this guy aside and tell him that he needs a lot of practice and should be diving with an experienced diver. And if he doesn't get it, be blunt and tell him he's going to kill someone if he doesn't shape up.

 

[padrediver]

Last year when I took my OW test, there were a couple kids (and I do mean kids...10-13 yrs old) who could not do a couple of the required tests...mainly the BC and the weight belt removal and replacement. Yet, the instructor passed these kids and they are now junior OW divers. At what point do you say enough is enough and fail these people. Yes they paid their money, but they are risking their lives and the lives of whoever they dive with. I'm sorry, but to me, this is not the way to do things. Don't get me wrong, the intructors were excellent and they and the divemasters went above and beyond the call to assist people. But when do you hand out the "F". Just curious as to your opinions.

I was just a kid when I started.(13)
Couldn't DROP a belt/BC? Hard to believe.
That's easier than putting on a pair of board shorts!

 

[underwater daphne]

no, i meant report the student, but the better way would be of course to take him or his parents aside and to refuse to buddy him. sometimes ppl don't realize when they're doing something stupid or very dangerous. happens to many ppl and you either survive or you're lucky enough to have a friend/buddy tell you that what you're doing could kill someone.
it's the same with driving, how many ppl will still get in a car after too much alcohol under the impression, that they have everything under control and how many ppl will actually get in the car with them? too many if you ask me and too many keep their mouth shut about it. same with diving.

 

[padrediver]

Last year when I took my OW test, there were a couple kids (and I do mean kids...10-13 yrs old) who could not do a couple of the required tests...mainly the BC and the weight belt removal and replacement. Yet, the instructor passed these kids and they are now junior OW divers. At what point do you say enough is enough and fail these people. Yes they paid their money, but they are risking their lives and the lives of whoever they dive with. I'm sorry, but to me, this is not the way to do things. Don't get me wrong, the intructors were excellent and they and the divemasters went above and beyond the call to assist people. But when do you hand out the "F". Just curious as to your opinions.

Of course (and I wasn't there)the instructor may have not been good with kids. Kids require a little extra help when they are trying to manipulate a set of scuba that's as big as they are!