General thoughts on kids being able to do a Tandem

[promise5 17]

What are your thoughts on kids being able to tandem. Good idea, bad idea, what age do you think should be allowed to(with parental consent)
Just wondering

No matter how slowly you say oranges it never sounds like gullible.
Believe me I tried.

[Dokeman 0]

I wish it was allowed.

[normiss 800]

What Mike said.



However, the US is a very litigious society so it's not generally permissible to do ... at a USPA GM DZ

[jackwallace 3]

How young/old a kid?

U only make 2 jumps: the first one for some weird reason and the last one that you lived through. The rest are just filler.
scr 316

[promise5 17]

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How young/old a kid?

I would at first say 16, but then my younger brother is 14 and would love to go. I also have a younger sister that's 10 and crap she loves anything even close to that. If she can make the height restrictions on a ride then she goes on it. Has more guts then I do in that area.
But, I think she might be an exception. I would think 13 or 14.

No matter how slowly you say oranges it never sounds like gullible.
Believe me I tried.

[GLIDEANGLE 1]

Put your siblings in a vertical wind tunnel. For the cost of a
tandem, they can learn to FLY!

The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

This has been discussed to death.

In short:
Parents can give consent, but can't waive the right to sue for a minor. So the waiver is essentially useless.
Because of this, tandem gear manufacturers in the US do not allow minors to jump their gear, period.

There are one or two DZs in the US that do allow 16 and older to jump tandem. They do it within the rules by using gear that doesn't have that manufactuer restriction.
There are more (but still not very many) that allow 16 and up to do static line and AFF.

If you want someone under 16 to jump, you pretty much have to go outside of the US.

And then you open the can of worms about whether or not a kid can make a realistic assesment of the risks and make a reasoned decision to jump.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[obelixtim 150]

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What are your thoughts on kids being able to tandem. Good idea, bad idea, what age do you think should be allowed to(with parental consent)
Just wondering

Tandem evolved precisely because a skydiver wanted to take his young son on a skydive.

If it wasn't for legal issues in the US, kids would be able to skydive there, as they have in other parts of the world without problems.

My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

[jerry81 10]

Legal issues aside (since US laws don't apply where I'm jumping), the youngest passenger I've taken was 10 and the youngest I've seen was 6.

Both seemed quite cool with the idea of jumping, but neither of them looked really 'there' during the actual jump. Then again, two months ago I jumped with a 12 year old who was rocking it.

I think a part of what makes jumping exciting for adults is the overcoming of fear that goes with it. Kids, in general, still know they're immortal and nothing bad can happen if an adult says it's OK. So that part of the experience may be lost on them. On the other hand, the freefall rush can cause even grownup minds to shut down, partially or completely. I'm not sure that this is a completely pleasant sensation, but at least adults know a bit better what they're getting into. With children I'm not so sure, and I don't really like the thought of hurting a child in this way.

I'm sure there are exceptions, and older kids are a whole different thing altogether. If I had to draw a line somewhere, I'd say 12 is my personal minimum.

[slotperfect 7]

The search function is your friend:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4003314;search_string=underage%20tandems;#4003314

Arrive Safely

John

[promise5 17]

Quote

The search function is your friend:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4003314;search_string=underage%20tandems;#4003314

thank you,

No matter how slowly you say oranges it never sounds like gullible.
Believe me I tried.

[toolbox 0]

I think it is a bad idea.
Most young children do not understand the danger involved in skydiving,and do not kid yourself,skydiving is a dangerous activity.
I'm 50 years old and I've been skydiving for over 20 years,and have seen more people seriously injured or killed skydiving than in all the other activities I've experienced in my life.
I grew up in a logging family and I've also fought forest fires and worked in heavy industry,so I have not lived a sheltered life by any standard.
Skydiving kicks ass,but it is still big boy rules and not for children.
18 is considered adult and thats good for skydiving, and I believe they should also be allowed to drink at 18 since they are old enough to go to war.

[dontlikemustard 0]

to be fair, i am quite sure most whuffos do not understand the dangers involved.

but yes, 18 is a good age.

[Rover 11]

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I think it is a bad idea.
Most young children do not understand the danger involved in skydiving,and do not kid yourself,skydiving is a dangerous activity.
I'm 50 years old and I've been skydiving for over 20 years,and have seen more people seriously injured or killed skydiving than in all the other activities I've experienced in my life.
I grew up in a logging family and I've also fought forest fires and worked in heavy industry,so I have not lived a sheltered life by any standard.
Skydiving kicks ass,but it is still big boy rules and not for children.
18 is considered adult and thats good for skydiving, and I believe they should also be allowed to drink at 18 since they are old enough to go to war.

Nice thoughts but at the end of the day a tandem is generally nothing more than a carnival ride - which is what most kids want.

And I'm not old as you but I've been jumping longer.

And to the orginal poster - may I sugesst you may get more credence if you have more jumps than posts.

2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

[obelixtim 150]

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Most young children do not understand the danger involved in skydiving.

The same could be said for the myriad of other activities kids take part in...skiing, fishing, swimming, riding in the back of the car after Dads had a skinful.......to name a few.

Too many kids these days are wrapped in cotton wool, and grow up with no real idea of the dangers in the world or any idea how to manage such situations.

We see them here with all their mad skillz and inability to take advice from those who already saw the wheel invented.

Kids are not stupid, I'm sure they are aware that skydiving can be a scary thing to do. Its a lot more carefully managed than many other of the activities I've alluded to.

My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

[stayhigh 2]

Have you seen any adult passenger who are fully aware of the risk they are taking???

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[toolbox 0]

Most adults are very aware of what they are getting themselves into.
But you have a good point in that fewer, and fewer do as the years go by,and it has taken on a carnival ride mentality,which has steadily increased the numbers of tandems done every year.
Good for us TI's eh?

[diablopilot 2]

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Have you seen any adult passenger who are fully aware of the risk they are taking???

Who cares? What's more important is will a jury believe they should have known the risks.

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[promise5 17]

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Have you seen any adult passenger who are fully aware of the risk they are taking???

Who cares? What's more important is will a jury believe they should have known the risks.

Very good point, as we live in a VERY lawsuit happy society. UGH!!

No matter how slowly you say oranges it never sounds like gullible.
Believe me I tried.

[GLIDEANGLE 1]

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Have you seen any adult passenger who are fully aware of the risk they are taking???

Several years ago a jumper with ~200 jumps made a low panic turn and broke his femur. After healing, he said to me: "That accident was good for me. It taught me that I could die in this sport." He stopped jumping shortly after that.

If someone with 200 jumps needs a serious injury to learn that this is a dangerous sport.... there are probably LOTS of tandem students who are in deep denial too.

The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

[Andy9o8 2]

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I think it is a bad idea.
Most young children do not understand the danger involved in skydiving,and do not kid yourself,skydiving is a dangerous activity.
I'm 50 years old and I've been skydiving for over 20 years,and have seen more people seriously injured or killed skydiving than in all the other activities I've experienced in my life.
I grew up in a logging family and I've also fought forest fires and worked in heavy industry,so I have not lived a sheltered life by any standard.
Skydiving kicks ass,but it is still big boy rules and not for children.
18 is considered adult and thats good for skydiving, and I believe they should also be allowed to drink at 18 since they are old enough to go to war.

What he said.
Except for the part about logging.
I really don't see the average kid under 15-16ish having sufficient developmental maturity, life experience and judgment to realistically assesss and appreciate the risk of death associated with all parachute jumping.

(I feel strongly about this regardless of what country it's in. Has nothing to do w/legal issues.)

[Bignugget 0]

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Put your siblings in a vertical wind tunnel. For the cost of a
tandem, they can learn to FLY!

This.

Watching the kids in the tunnel is amazing.

The younger the better they insta fly.

Tunnel time till they are 18, then AFF like ninjas.

[JohnMitchell 16]

The younger the better they insta fly.

Tunnel time till they are 18, then AFF like ninjas.

[airtwardo 7]

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The younger the better they insta fly.

Tunnel time till they are 18, then AFF like ninjas.

Are you okay with 16?

[JohnMitchell 16]

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Are you okay with 16?


I'm really not as a general rule, as stated above few that age can truly gauge the consequences and make any kind of realistic informed decision.

I would postulate that since brain science seems to think the judgement area of males' brains doesn't fully develop until their mid-twenties (ask any car insurance actuarial) that maybe 18 is too young to make an intelligent decision.

But I've never called the decision to skydive an intelligent one.

Most American kids' first inkling of mortality seems to be the age you start driving. That's when you start losing people you know to car wrecks. I had one kid start at 16, She seemed to be fairly level headed about it all. My son didn't start until he was 20. Still fairly level headed.