Posted by MHK on June 11, 2001 at 17:29:09:
In Reply to: your "questions" about PADI posted by RaiderKarl on June 11, 2001 at 17:14:51:
RaiderKarl,
Trust me in the flame war game, your post wasn't even a flicker ;-).. I have no problem with you and I simply think that we have a different point of view on a few issues..
I think the point that I perhaps didn't do a good enough job emphasizing is that the guys that we had in teh class we real good guys and really dedicated divers, no question there.. And they are the guys that are teaching.. I'm glad that they are taking the extra step, those are all good and positive things..
But doesn't it strike you as strange that the *teachers* of one organization, need to go to a fundamentals class of another organization to learn the basics??? If they don't go to another agancy what then are they teaching??? And equally as important, how did they get the teaching credentials in the first place????
I like your analogy above about the PADI breakout and what it would in fact cost to get quality eductaion.. That's the perfect example, butas you ellude to, the problem is that once a diver gets the PADI ( or any other agency card for that matter, absent GUE) c-card that is a diver for life.. Whether they ever take another class, whether they ever do another dive, whether they have a quadruple bypass they are certified divers for life.. If you get a guy that took a class 40 years ago in Cayman and hasn't done a dive since, that person is certified to dive our waters....
That is lowering the bar.. Allowing a diver to get a c-card, with a requirement that the instructor promote continuing education three different times per lecture, is lowering the bar.. I walked out of a PADI IDC about 6 years ago because my thinking was * why not teach them how to dive correctly the first time and not worry so much about con ed*, but I was told that I would never pass the IE unless I pimped myself.. I refused to do it, so I walked out mid class...
Just my thoughts...
Later