Posted by Jerry on January 04, 2002 at 06:59:53:
In Reply to: Child abuse and diving posted by Wayne on January 03, 2002 at 15:03:04:
In spite of my dogmatic statement,there are exceptions...but I think these are exceptions that highlight the problem.
Wayne dives with his children. They are well trained, he restricts the kinds of dives they can do, and he makes everyone of the dives a training dive where he is working, even though they not be aware of it. All in all, he has considered the risks and taken steps to reduce them to acceptable levels. Even as the overprotective parent I am, I would have no objection to this.
What angers me is the push to place children in diving programs at resorts or through quickie certification programs. Neither parent nor agency is recognizing the dangers they engender and the additional requirements of the dive partner. Why not go for a recreational dive off the beach in CA...after all it was fun and safe in 30' of water with 100' vis in the Caymans?
Wayne is also right in saying that most children should not dive. I won't let my 10 year old daughter dive for all the reasons expressed in this thread. But the cert agencies and some parents are going the opposite direction. We can only hope that they wake up before there is a wake up call.
Jerry