Mailing List Archive

Mailing List: techdiver

Message Display

At 07:35 AM 9/28/95 -0700, you wrote:

>It is tough enough as an instructor to make adults understand all the 
>myriad of factors associated with scuba diving in the short time that 
>we get to complete the course and turn them loose on their own, keeping 
>our fingers crossed. In my opinion, most kids at the age of 12 or older 
>are not ready to comprehend all the factors involved and adding an adult 
>could in some instances make it even more dangerous.

   I could somewhat disagree. I don't mean to say that you can teach *ALL*
kids to dive, but it is definitely possible to teach some how to SCUBA dive.
Unlike men in their 20's who tend to be show-offs and are really keen to
show some independence no matter how foolishly sometimes, children in their
early teens will definitely tend to listen more to an instructor, especially
when taught SCUBA diving.

   When you're going into a SCUBA class that young, it is not really an
ordinary event, like having football, baseball or hockey lessons. You don't
usually scrape your allowance together and go enroll, anyway you need your
parent's consent, so, in a word, you just don't decide casually to do that
on a kick. For me, it took me at least 2 years of solid lobbying (I even
never asked for a bicycle - but got one anyway) before my parents finally
sought a SCUBA school that would take a 12 year old (I started lobbying when
I was 10)...

   When we went to register at the school, first, my mother was thoroughly
grilled by the school boss, then I had an extensive interview with the boss
and an instructor; they made sure I knew what I was heading into, and the
only thing is that they asked for a parent to be present during the classes,
to make sure I understood perfectly. This was vaived when they found out
that I was explaining everything to my mother... The fact that I have been
snorkelling for 7 years also must have had helped a lot.

   I had the motivation to listen and do as the intructor (btw, a woman),
because at age 12, SCUBA is a *BIG* thing and I've wanted so bad to do it
for 7 years, even more so when at age 9, I read a book which convinced me
that I could do it - say it passed from something inaccessible like wanting
to be an astronaut to something more possible, like driving a go-kart - I
got that too, but that was the reward for trying bleu cheese :)... (I never
felt a craving to drive a car, though. Still to this day, I have yet to get
a driver's license).

   Anyway, as much as there are people who will never be able to dive, there
are plenty of kids mature enough to successfully learn diving at a tender
age. The only problem is how to draw the line and find out who's able to do it.

   P.S. Now, those who know that I got certified last year will certainly be
puzzled... I never completed the OW classes 21 years ago (Oh, I did three of
them - I had 1 or 2 to go) for reasons I still haven't been able to fathom -
but it wasn't due to a bad experience, even though I had to scrub my second
ow dive because of a cramp sustained at 15m. I just got drawn back to diving
by stumbling by chance into a SCUBA tryout - thanks to a pedal submarine.
But that's another story...

----  ============== 4 easy steps to make an universe: =============  ----
1: Stable matter.
2: Passively self-arranging matter structures (crystals).
3: Actively self-replicating matter structures (biological organisms).
4: Intelligent biological organisms who can modify their environment (man).

-*** Marc Dufour *** [\] ACUC 6 31874 *** HTTP://www.cam.org/~MDUFOUR ***-

Navigate by Author: [Previous] [Next] [Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject: [Previous] [Next] [Subject Search Index]

[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]

[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]