Unfortunately, every year there are new stories about children drowning. Whether they’ve managed to climb over a fence and gotten into a pool that is unsupervised or gotten caught in a rip tide while playing in the ocean, children down at record rates every year. Drowning also takes place in silence, so – contrary to popular belief, no one is alerted to someone’s struggles when they are about to drown. They just go under quietly. Drowning rates rise in the summer months.
There are a few quite easy-to-remember rules of thumb that can help keep children (and adults) safe during the most active water activities months of the year.
Rule #1
Keep within arm’s reach of your child at all times.
Even if your children are good swimmers and you feel confident of their skills, surprises can happen in the water. They can become tired, accidentally choke on water, bump their head. There are many things that can put children of all skill levels at risk.
Rule #2
An adult over the age of 16 years needs to supervise.
When around water, children should always be supervised by someone an adult. Rip tides and strong currents, even seemingly safe beaches can take a child away in a mere moment.
Rule #3
One adult should never supervise more than two children under the age of 4 at a public pool.
Even when there is a lifeguard on duty, make sure that this rule of thumb is followed. How in the world could 1 adult help even 2 people – much less more. And it’s quite obvious that public pools do not have one lifeguard for every 2 people or even children. Don’t let lifeguards be your child’s baby sitter. They have a more important job of keeping everyone safe. They are not there so you can loose yourself in your Kindle or Facebook.
Even if there are lots of people in the pool, a child could easily drown: struggling and then just silently slipping beneath the water.
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