Teach Your Kids to Swim and Respect Water

[gbv5501]

Someone recently drowned in the Missouri river near my hometown. A bunch of kids were cliff jumping and the current grabbed him and that was it. Sad and scary at the same time. Both my kids have grown up around water, can swim well, and have a healthy respect for what water is capable of. I've always been thankful for that. Almost every middle school around here has a pool so just about every child gets exposed to a certain degree which I think helps.

 

[sadiejane]

this is one thing that really took me by surprise when i moved to kansas city. in the two largest urban core counties, wyandotte and jackson(we are talking maybe a million people combined in these two counties), there are not any public pools. over the years the city has installed numerous free "water parks" with spraying type devices and fountains to play in but no way to learn to swim. these are, of course, also the "poorest" of the metropolitan areas of this city. over the past decade or so many of the other counties have instituted strict restrictions. if you cannot prove you live in that county, you cannot buy pool passes. so even if inner city youth could find transportation to get to the suburban counties(and if they had the financial resources), they are not allowed to pay to swim. there may be an inner city school or two that have pools. but im not even sure about that.

 

[Shoki]

Absolutely horrible.
My wife is a terrible swimmer and she told me how her parents made her wear arm floaties way passed the point that she could touch the bottom of their pool and up until she was in the seventh grade. I simply could not believe that she didn't know how to swim and her parents would be so irresponsible. What is with parents these days? I'm still working on making her a stronger swimmer and also getting my little boy in the water as often as humanely possible. I'm going to make damn sure that he knows you have to rely on your own skills to get you out of the water if you accidentally go in, not someone else's.

 

[VictGerbSogCamill]

Very sad. I feel for the families of those young kids.

When I was in the Navy, I could not believe how many people joined, that did not know how to swim. Some even managed to get through basic without learning; your going to be on a ship in the ocean!!
I also agree that swimming should be taught in school. I know not every school has a pool, but in gym class we would have a week of archery, tennis,weight lifting why not swimming. Take a field trip to a pool if the school doesn't have the facilities, teach basic swim fundamentals.

Just a tragic story that possibly could have had a better outcome with some swim lessons.

 

[hollowdweller]

Good topic Guyon!

You know, when I was a kid you were taught to swim by the time you were in grade school at the latest and you had your drivers license as soon as you were eligible.

Nowdays I know all kinds of young adults who have no drivers license and don't know how to swim.

Seriously I think we need to re think our curriculum in schools to foster independance and understanding of finance.:thumbup:

 

[6shooter]

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...

Rivers absolutley present a huge and different set of challenges. When currents are rough and strong enough that they'll pin you under even with a PFD, you need swimming skills to save yourself. A PFD isn't the end-all problem solver to water safety, people still need to know how to swim.

Being that I don't kayak or anything like that, my river experience is limited to porting and tubing in nothing more than class-1, and maybe some light class-2 waters.

I suppose it boggles me that they lacked swimming skills because I was involved in swimming lessons since before I can remember, and had completed all my lifeguard and instructing courses before I was old enough to legally guard.

I've got a friend who gets uncomfortable in water past his waist. His dad is a former Ironman competitor, and mom a nurse and generally athletic person. I have no idea how he's grown up without learning how to swim.

I'm with everyone in saying that swimming lessons should be a part of school curriculum, and I think a basic lifesaving course should be a graduation requirement.

 

[Codger_64]

I can understand how a person might grow up without knowing how to swim. Some may just never have been offered the opportunity to learn because of their location or lack of parental initiative. But in my opinion, swimming is much more than a survival skill, it is a life skill.

Both of my children began swimming at a very early age (the age when you have to shuck the diaper and worry about pool-poo). I did this because my parents did the same with me and my brother, and I've never had a fear of the water. Respect yes, fear no.

We did not have a public pool, but went to the mountains where I learned to swim in a stream (Sylamore Creek in the Ozarks). When I did later have access to a municipal pool, in one summer I went thru every swimming class they offered and, like the previous poster, got lifegard status well before I was old enough to be a lifeguard. My own father, a WWII Navy vet was my teacher and inspiration for learning.

Not only has my ability to swim stayed with me and been passed down to my children, it has allowed me a long life of enjoying watersports such as boating and fishing. Several times over the years, it has allowed me the opportunity to use my skills to save the lives of others. Many more times, it made a world of difference in how much I was able to participate in and enjoy whitewater canoeing and wilderness tripping.

I am always saddened when I hear about people drowning. Doubly so when the story indicates that even basic swimming skills would have made it a non-event.

 

[DM Mills]

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

Both of my sons attended similar training...:thumbup:

 

[Atama]

Such a sad, sad tragedy. This is the very reason I have been taking my kids, ages 2 & 3, to my parents house (a 2.5 hr drive one way ) every weekend to start learning to swim. It is a "known" environment, and we have the pool all to ourselves to minimize the chance of any accidents.

 

[mcjhrobinson]

this story is very sad and couldve been avoided. i agree with what Mentor said...learning to swim is VERY important!!!! i wish someone had taken some time to at least teach the doggy paddle or to keep your head above water...

i always learned to grafefully kick your feet at a slow and steady pace while making figure 8s with your hands loosely cupped and let the back of your head touch the water so you dont feel so stiff or rigid.

 

[SouthernCross]

G'day HD

.....Seriously I think we need to re think our curriculum in schools to foster independance and understanding of finance.:thumbup:

I might be Robinson Crusoe here, but as a father of two I consider this to be my responsibility :thumbup:

The same as I do for everything else my kids need to know about life in general & the outdoors in particular :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:




Kind regards
Mick

 

[Stormstaff]

Sad. My prayers go out to the families.

 

[mete]

Here on the river canoe/kayak/raft trips are popular .We lose a few each year.I'm sure less than half of the people on the river know how to swim .

 

[fishshooter]

One of my best friends drowned a couple years ago. He was a very strong swimmer. He was ejected from a small boat, just at dusk. He was not wearing a PFD, but swam several hundred yards. They think he got disoriented and couldn't find shore. He was with another friend, he made it to shore. They were talking back and forth, but he lost him in the dark. We have several drownings around here every year. There is just so much water around. The last drowning close by was a woman that lived on a houseboat on the river. She had a PFD on when she fell out of her small boat at night. She was less than a mile from her houseboat. Rip tides, strong currents and panic kill even seasoned swimmers.

 

[redpoint]

It's as important as any survival skill you'll learn.

Without question, swimming, is indeed the MOST important survival skill any human should know. Chances are, most humans will fall into water some day, our earth is what ... 78% water? Sad story.