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Author Topic:   Boater Fatility Involving Youngsters

Hoosier posted 08-14-2015 08:58 AM ET (US)
[News story on-line about boating fatality involving younsters in a Whaler.
weekendwarrior posted 08-14-2015 11:57 AM ET (US)
Kids will be kids. It's a shame but we can't lock them all in the closet until they're adults or they'll never learn to manage risk. What we can do is start teaching boating safety in school. I'm a native here, started in the boat without parents in middle school, and no where did they ever teach boating safety in school. They have drivers ed, why not boating ed in this area that is surrounded by water on 3 sides, with lakes everywhere, and where almost every kid ends up in as boat at some point.
n1ywb posted 08-14-2015 12:08 PM ET (US)
The driver here did pass his Florida state boaters safety course. From the article:

quote:
Florida has no age limit for operating a boat. However, anyone who was born on or after Jan. 1, 1988, must complete an approved boating safety course and obtain a Boating Safety Education Identificfation Card issued by the state to operate a motorboat of 10 horsepower or great, according to Barraco.
The teen who was operating the boat had a card, but Barraco pointed out that passing the course wouldn't necessarily mean a person had the ability to operate a particular boat.
If the Florida course is anything like the Vermont course it's short and sweet and doesn't dwell on crashing into things at night, although maybe it should considering how often this seems to happen.
weekendwarrior posted 08-14-2015 12:13 PM ET (US)
Speaking of managing risk; I think not allowing kids to take some risks is partly to blame on these incidents, because kids these days don't know how to recognize and respect real risk. I have an Elementry aged son, they aren't even allowed to run on the playground at recess because they might fall and get hurt! The play sets are only 3 feet high, and kids younger than 4th grade aren't allowed on the play sets at all. I'm seeing the effects of this protectionism in some of his friends. They try to do things that will obviously end painfully, because they haven't been allowed to fail and now they don't recognize when there is real risk. I can't say whether being allowed to fail more would have made these kids more cautious at night, but had they been allowed to fail off the top of 10 foot tall play sets like we did as kids, then just maybe they would remember that hitting hard things fast hurts and maybe they would have been going a little slower. OK that's a stretch, but you get my point.
martyn1075 posted 08-14-2015 01:12 PM ET (US)
Its true to some degree about the protecting factor from adults. Its in our nature to protect our kids. It may minimize impact accidents in the short term but perhaps it leads to more serious accidents later in life with some kids. Need further study on that to determine if its indeed true.
When kids die its the worst and the parent will always ask themselves could I have done more.
When I was a kid I had some freedom but I respected the rules and listened to my parents reluctantly at times. I am still alive and am extremely cautious individual, so maybe it worked out. I remember playing ice Hockey for the first time. I joined really late when I was a teenager because its something I really wanted to do and played other sports that took up my whole time before. Compared to other kids who started when they were 4 and 5 years old I was very inexperienced. My first shift during tryouts one kid hit me so hard I was seeing stars. Next shift I kept my head up. Sometimes we learn from our mistakes but hopefully they are not too costly to find out.
Experience wins over anything.
n1ywb posted 08-14-2015 05:14 PM ET (US)
Another recent high speed nighttime boating crash; this guy was 54 and wrapped his lund deep V around a tree, so it happens to all ages. The pictures are ugly.
http://www.inforum.com/news/ 3814341-detroit-lakes-woman-killed-nd-boat-crash
porthole2 posted 08-15-2015 02:04 AM ET (US)
And this one happened just down the road from me around 10 pm
http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2015/08/ 3_saved_from_boat_teetering_on_jetty_in_spring_lak. html#incart_2box_nj-homepage-featured
Binkster posted 08-15-2015 01:36 PM ET (US)
I agree with weekend and martyn. [Related anecdote about teenagers in a non-boating situation.]
andrey320 posted 08-17-2015 02:13 PM ET (US)
I would have never thought that you can get a 13 with that many people to a speed high enough to cause that much damage.

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Author	Topic: Boater Fatility Involving Youngsters
Hoosier	posted 08-14-2015 08:58 AM ET (US) [News story on-line about boating fatality involving younsters in a Whaler.
weekendwarrior	posted 08-14-2015 11:57 AM ET (US) Kids will be kids. It's a shame but we can't lock them all in the closet until they're adults or they'll never learn to manage risk. What we can do is start teaching boating safety in school. I'm a native here, started in the boat without parents in middle school, and no where did they ever teach boating safety in school. They have drivers ed, why not boating ed in this area that is surrounded by water on 3 sides, with lakes everywhere, and where almost every kid ends up in as boat at some point.
n1ywb	posted 08-14-2015 12:08 PM ET (US) The driver here did pass his Florida state boaters safety course. From the article: quote: Florida has no age limit for operating a boat. However, anyone who was born on or after Jan. 1, 1988, must complete an approved boating safety course and obtain a Boating Safety Education Identificfation Card issued by the state to operate a motorboat of 10 horsepower or great, according to Barraco. The teen who was operating the boat had a card, but Barraco pointed out that passing the course wouldn't necessarily mean a person had the ability to operate a particular boat. If the Florida course is anything like the Vermont course it's short and sweet and doesn't dwell on crashing into things at night, although maybe it should considering how often this seems to happen.
weekendwarrior	posted 08-14-2015 12:13 PM ET (US) Speaking of managing risk; I think not allowing kids to take some risks is partly to blame on these incidents, because kids these days don't know how to recognize and respect real risk. I have an Elementry aged son, they aren't even allowed to run on the playground at recess because they might fall and get hurt! The play sets are only 3 feet high, and kids younger than 4th grade aren't allowed on the play sets at all. I'm seeing the effects of this protectionism in some of his friends. They try to do things that will obviously end painfully, because they haven't been allowed to fail and now they don't recognize when there is real risk. I can't say whether being allowed to fail more would have made these kids more cautious at night, but had they been allowed to fail off the top of 10 foot tall play sets like we did as kids, then just maybe they would remember that hitting hard things fast hurts and maybe they would have been going a little slower. OK that's a stretch, but you get my point.
martyn1075	posted 08-14-2015 01:12 PM ET (US) Its true to some degree about the protecting factor from adults. Its in our nature to protect our kids. It may minimize impact accidents in the short term but perhaps it leads to more serious accidents later in life with some kids. Need further study on that to determine if its indeed true. When kids die its the worst and the parent will always ask themselves could I have done more. When I was a kid I had some freedom but I respected the rules and listened to my parents reluctantly at times. I am still alive and am extremely cautious individual, so maybe it worked out. I remember playing ice Hockey for the first time. I joined really late when I was a teenager because its something I really wanted to do and played other sports that took up my whole time before. Compared to other kids who started when they were 4 and 5 years old I was very inexperienced. My first shift during tryouts one kid hit me so hard I was seeing stars. Next shift I kept my head up. Sometimes we learn from our mistakes but hopefully they are not too costly to find out. Experience wins over anything.
n1ywb	posted 08-14-2015 05:14 PM ET (US) Another recent high speed nighttime boating crash; this guy was 54 and wrapped his lund deep V around a tree, so it happens to all ages. The pictures are ugly. http://www.inforum.com/news/ 3814341-detroit-lakes-woman-killed-nd-boat-crash
porthole2	posted 08-15-2015 02:04 AM ET (US) And this one happened just down the road from me around 10 pm http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2015/08/ 3_saved_from_boat_teetering_on_jetty_in_spring_lak. html#incart_2box_nj-homepage-featured
Binkster	posted 08-15-2015 01:36 PM ET (US) I agree with weekend and martyn. [Related anecdote about teenagers in a non-boating situation.]
andrey320	posted 08-17-2015 02:13 PM ET (US) I would have never thought that you can get a 13 with that many people to a speed high enough to cause that much damage.