If you’re a newer PADI® Member, you may not be aware that in 2002 PADI published Children and Scuba Diving: A Resource Guide for Instructors and Parents. A landmark work about child development, teaching and physiology questions related to scuba, Children and Scuba Diving was written and reviewed by an international team of physiology and education experts, and remains the only book to date dedicated entirely to youth in diving. Though no longer in print for several years, its content remains largely current because of the relatively timeless nature of the underlying concepts.

Youth involvement in diving has been growing proportionately for more than 10 years, and took a significant uptick in 2021. Among PADI certifications overall, the proportion of the 10-19-year-olds had been increasing by 1-2 percent annually, but jumped more than twice that from 2021 over 2020. Proportional experience participation jumped from 17 percent to 22 percent in the same period, compared increasing by 2-3 percent annually in the prior years. Entry level certifications saw the biggest change, with this age set accounting for 21 percent of certifications in 2021 compared to 15 percent in 2020.

With this rising participation of youth diving, Children and Scuba Diving: A Resource Guide for Instructors and Parents is now available as a downloadable PDF in English on the PADI Pros Site: Classic Pros’ Site/References/Topics of Interest/Children and Diving. Note that you may share this reference with parents, teachers and others with an interest in youngsters and diving at no charge. Some consumer-facing communications will mention its availability and direct readers to contact PADI Members for it.

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President’s Desk, kids, youth divingPADI Pros