Teach Your Kids to Swim and Respect Water

Guyon

Guyon

Biscuit Whisperer
Super Mod
Joined
Mar 15, 2000
Messages
45,835
It's as important as any survival skill you'll learn.

As temperatures soared Monday, the cool water of Shreveport, Louisiana's, Red River lured a group of family and friends to its banks.
In an effort to cool off, one of the teens wandered into the shallow part of the river.
At some point he slipped into deep water and started to drown.
So six more teens went to his rescue.
Only one made it back to shore.
Shreveport, Louisiana, Fire Chief Brian Crawford said as soon as the first teen was in trouble, the others instinctively rushed to help.
"Whether you can't swim or don't swim ... you're just gonna go and do what you think you have to do," he said.
The parents stood helpless on the shore and watched as their children struggled and eventually slipped under the water. The adults could not swim either.
"Imagine watching your child drown and not being able to do anything," Crawford said.
Brothers Litrelle Stewart, 18; Latevin Stewart, 15; and LaDairus Stewart, 17; and siblings Takeitha Warner, 13; JaMarcus Warner, 14; and JaTavious Warner, 17 died.
Click to expand...

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/02/louisiana.river.drowning/index.html?iref=obnetwork


And a similar story from this week about four guys in Idaho: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7019545322
 
It absolutley boggles my mind that there are still people out there that live near water that can't swim. An incredibly sad story no doubt, hopefully people learn that water safety is not a lesson you want to learn the hard way.
 
Aw, man. That's terrible.

I see no reason that a child should be allowed to pass the fifth grade without knowing how to do basic arithmetic - or how to swim. These are both life skills. Arithmetic is needed for everyday life, but is unlikely to stand between survival and certain death in an emergency situation. Swimming may not be crucial in a day-to-day sense, but when you really need it, it definitely will make a life-changing difference.

All the best,

- Mike
 
Sad story, and I know personal responsibility is out of vogue, but WTF were they doing in the water if they couldn't swim? Or even put on a PFD? Why did the adults let em near the water unsupervised? This should never have come close to happening.
 
Good call. We worked for the last three summers on the kids swimming abilities. It scares the hell out of me. But - wow - what a loss.

TF
 
Tragic. Absolutely tragic. Rivers can be some of the most dangerous bodies of water. Currents, rapids, washouts, etc. are constantly changing and you never know where trouble lurks; even if it looks calm and inviting on the surface. Unseen currents will wear out even the best swimmer in moments, not to mention a novice.
 
Thats really is sad. I agree kids should be taught to swim as a life lesson...when i was younger my older cousin was in the pool and my mom throw me in and i floundered around some until with alittle help from my cousin i learned to kick my feet and move my arms to stay afloat, its kinda a rough way to learn but I didnt forget either.
 
We had a girl drown downtown floating the Boise (very flat by Idaho standards) goofing off without a life jacket. If you're intoxicated, make sure you have your life vest on... I had a close call last fall, got tuned up on flatwater tied off to a 18 raft barge along a flatwater section of Hells Canyon. Figured I didn't have to do any more serious stuff that day so I ditched the vest on a buddy's boat, after seeing others do the same. When the barge broke apart and we went on our seperate ways, I wound up swimming the next little ducky wavetrain in a wool sweater. Between the current of even the flat river, the weight of the wool pulling me down and the fact that I had to chase down my paddle and boat... had I not been more confident with myself in water I could have been in trouble. Just as importantly, teach your children the importance of water to our survival, and how to procure safely if/when needed...
 
6shooter said:
It absolutley boggles my mind that there are still people out there that live near water that can't swim. An incredibly sad story no doubt, hopefully people learn that water safety is not a lesson you want to learn the hard way.
Click to expand...

Rivers are almost completely unpredictable. It takes YEARS of experience to get confident in strong river currents, reading the water, predicting flows and how your vessel handles in them. Even a slow moving river is carrying an incredible amount of force (I was swept off my feet this weekend porting a 2.5 foot deep river) and you don't realize it til an eddy is pulling you down, you're being washing machined in a hole or your foot is caught on a rock and the current is pushing you under...
 
Mentor said:
Aw, man. That's terrible.

I see no reason that a child should be allowed to pass the fifth grade without knowing how to do basic arithmetic - or how to swim. These are both life skills. Arithmetic is needed for everyday life, but is unlikely to stand between survival and certain death in an emergency situation. Swimming may not be crucial in a day-to-day sense, but when you really need it, it definitely will make a life-changing difference.

All the best,

- Mike
Click to expand...

Thats why kids learn to swim in school here in Denmark. Sad story.
 
PropThePolecat said:
Thats why kids learn to swim in school here in Denmark. Sad story.
Click to expand...

Hey, neat! My father's side of the family is from Copenhagen. Nice to see someone from Denmark posting here.

We learned to swim in public school in Ontario, too. We had to earn certain swimming badges during classes at the local rec centre.

Come to think of it, I can also recall having to attend two mandatory presentations on ice safety, one of which involved us having to immerse our arm in ice water for a minute to experience the cold. 20 students nursing numb hands will listen intently to a lecture on what to do if they fall through the ice.

All the best,

- Mike
 
Very sad story.
Gotta respect what's under the water, too.
There's a spot where there are two little perpendicular dropoffs with converging currents, and a strong eddy from the next chute at my favorite place. Looks fairly straightforward at first glance, but there's a lot going on right there. Last year a guy flipped there, and tried to get back on the boat instead of putting his feet up. I believe a newspaper article said he could swim. He had on a PFD. At one point he had hold of a paddle, because someone was right there to help. The current was too strong, though.
It was Father's Day, and his family got to watch him drown due to a foot entrapment.
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Accident/detail/accidentid/3121/
I know that spot because I've flipped there three times. At normal flow, that little whirlpool is barely the length of my 11ft. kayak, and that's probably about how far he'd have had to float to have been safe.
Almost dead center of this pic is the exact place. The water is at quadruple the normal flow in the pic, and masks the rock formations below the surface.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=162987&d=1270770654
 
If you have never been in a severely panic educed situation, water will get you there REALLY fast. My ankle got snagged on China Slide Rapids last year, basically a big rock field maze on the Lower Salmon. Thankfully I was able to pull my body (which was downriver) to my foot and rock one chunk hard enough to let me go. I remember my first time swimming a rapid, as well... also on the same trip, Snowhole on the same river. Tried to skirt around a rock in the middle of the drop, caught a lateral wave that buffed off the rock and went topsy turvy. I ripped off my boonie hat, my necklace, my sunglasses with the retaining strap in a fury to remove anything that felt restraining on my movement at all. You feel like you have no control over where you are in the water because there are so many disorienting forces coming at you from every direction. I've swam many rapids since then and have been much more calm and collected, but it was an eye opener, a real experience, taught me what I did wrong and how I should react.
 
G'day Guyon

Guyon said:
It's as important as any survival skill you'll learn.....
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more :thumbup::thumbup:

Especially when you spend a fair bit of each summer holidays in and around water :D

Kidsridingawave.jpg


Capetribulation123.jpg


Capetribulation122.jpg



As a part of my childrens education in the surf, I've introduced them to the power of a strong undertow at the beach, so they'll learn respect for the power of the water, without devloping a fear of it :thumbup:

Strongundertow.jpg





Kind regards
Mick
 
That's a damned shame. When I grew up in Louisiana, I don't remember anyone who couldn't swim. Of course I lived in the Bayou, not up north near Arkansas. Hopefully, folks in the area use this as a learning tool and get educated.
 
A guy at my work died last year. He went in fetch a tennis ball that had been hit into the water. He didn't know there was a strong rip tide and he wasn't a strong swimmer.

He was very well liked and it absolutely gutted the workforce. It was a group outting for a bunch of friends that all worked together.
 
It's a horrible and sad story.

We sent our kids through this program when they were one and three years-old, respectively: http://www.infantswim.com/home.html

Anyone can float on his or her back if they have the presence of mind to do it and don't panic. You can teach an infant that, too. From there, you learn to flip over and stroke towards your destination with your head down in the water. When you get tired, you flip over and float for a while. Easier said then done, but that is the premise of the program. It works.
 
Wow..that is so sad :( My mom can't swim & my dad isn't much of a swimmer so growing up my little bro. & me didn't get to spend much time around the water. I never learned how to swim until I met my wife & now I can swim..not a strong swimmer but I can swim :thumbup: My little bro. learned how to swim in highschool & he swims alot better than me. My boy's have been in the pool since they were infants & now they are 6yrs old & can swim like fish ! Everyone should learn to swim !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top