[Paddlewise] When to say "no"

The score on 2 years of giving beginners instruction:

- 10 nice, playful, enthousiastic students
- 5 people who refuse to practice anything
- An autistic girl who wants to paddle whitewater
- A guy with a kind of brain damage that "shuts down" his brain every
once in a while, leaving him unconcious for a minute or so
- A guy with fragile bones. He can't walk, and will probably break
several bones in a flat water capsise
- A girl that just wants to learn to roll, but has a phobia for fish
- Some people for whom practicing a capsize is out of the question
- A guy that lost his sense of balance in a car accident. He can't ride
a bicycle any more, but is confident he can learn to paddle
- A lady that refuses to use her paddle. She seems to think the boat
should move by itself.

To some of these people I've been nice and helpful. To some I've
suggested additional safety gear. To some I've been blunt or rude, just
to get them to leave my group. One of them I've actually refused. I
hated to do that, it kept spinning around in my mind for a couple of
days.

I refuse people when paddling is a direct danger to their lives.
Although I grant everybody the right to die, I do not want them to die
during my instruction sessions: It would ruin my day.

There must be other instructors around, struggling with the same
problem: Not only dangerous students, but also people that don't seem to
want to learn, or that you just dislike. I'd like to hear how other
people handle that. Does anybody use a medical check? A questionary? A
practical test? Ever told anybody "Do yourself a favor, join a chess
club"?

Niels.
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