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ph.nilsson

Dealing with scared parents

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you say its their fear and they are dumping it on you.... who will pick up the pieces if at age 20 you end up paraplegic or similar?

highly unlikely...but the dumping or fear/risk is not uni-directional.

they probaly arent even thinking this way and are just expressing normal parents need to protect you.....it never goes away really.

in the end you have to live your life and the parents willl cope anf probably come to admire it and brag about it. I never knew my mother lived in terror of me not returning from skydiving/motocross till 30 years later :S

regards, Steve
the older I get...the better I was

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Going through how the gear is made with them might help (it did for me even though they would not have stopped me from doing it, it still reassured them). Explaining things like what are RSLs and AADs usually makes it easier to accept as they understand skydiving is not just throwing yourself recklessly out of an airplane.

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quote But you could go to Sweden and cater for their needs, seems you already have a business plan > quote.


The DZ is obviously run by amateurs.....If they were serious about providing a service they would make it happen....

My business plan is simple....if there is a demand, cater for it. Its not rocket science.
My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

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My parents were a little taken aback when I started, but they don't have any problem with me jumping. Their only request is that I give them a phone call/text at the end of the day/weekend letting them know I'm alive and in one piece.

My mom was a little more panicked when I told her I bought my gear and it was all used. She wanted to know what was wrong with the canopy that had caused the owner to sell it.

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Naw, just re-program the TV remote, and change their icons around for email -- you know, all those things they ask you to do :ph34r:

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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As I said in another thread I did not start skydiving while my parents were alive. While realizing everyone's situation is different, I had an ailing father and a mother confined to a wheelchair. So if something happened to me what would have happened to them? Not to mention they would be worried the whole time. To each their own but I personally wouldn't have put them through it - feel it would have been very selfish on my part.

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Hi!
So, I'm very eager to book my aff course. The only problem is that my parents have started rebelling against the idea (despite them giving me my first tandem...). While I am 20 years old and could definitely just book the course and crap on their opinions on the matter I figure that maybe I should try to have a constructive conversation with them before that.

So, the question is what do I tell them? How dangerous is skydiving actually compared to other things, like driving or rockclimbing (which I do a great deal of) for instance?



Much more dangerous. Assuming you start young there's a 1 in 50 chance you'll be killed skydiving over the next 20 years (not including plane crashes which are counted separately).

It's worse than riding motorcycles.

[QUOTE]
Also, what are your thoughts on the objections of relatives, does it matter that a parent
[/QUOTE]

No unless they're still supporting you financially.

[QUOTE]
or wife, husband
[/QUOTE]

Yes. Marriage for most people leads to children which need to be provided for financially, emotionally, and otherwise for a few decades. Financial arrangements are often made based on the skydiving partner(s) being around for quite a while (career compromises, mortgages that can't be paid comfortably with one salary, etc.)

At the very least you need to take that into account and provide sufficient life and disability insurance.

[QUOTE]
etc is worried about you?
[/QUOTE]

No.

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Quote

What i did was not care about how anyone else felt but me. I guess that's selfish. Whatever.

That's not selfish. It's your life. Live it your way. That's how we raised our kids.



It IS selfish, but that's the way it should be. Look after SELF. Enjoy YOUR life YOUR way, dont live in resentment wishing you had made different choices.
You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

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Much more dangerous. Assuming you start young there's a 1 in 50 chance you'll be killed skydiving over the next 20 years (not including plane crashes which are counted separately).

It's worse than riding motorcycles.



Drew - motorcycling has roughly the same 1 in 1000 annual risk of death as skydiving. Not sure what the injury level is like - I suspect biking has a greater risk of a bad crash like mine, but that's just a gut feel. I do remember being a bit taken back by the number of people in crutches I would see at the DZ.

Obviously swooping versus not and other choices (canopy selection) affect the risks substantially.

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As much as I could understand a relative worrying about you hurting yourself, I fully agree that it is your choice, your life.

I have been lucky with my parents. I ride motorbikes, climb and would try anything that replaces blood with adrenaline. They know I want to enjoy myself and I grin like a fool whenever I bring up my upcoming AFF. They can see it makes me happy - even though I have just jumped the once.

I can easily say I fell :ph34r: in-love with skydiving the moment I got near a chute. Follow your love, live your life, love your life from >10,000ft


Perhaps you could convince them to do a tandem jump?

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