Drowning Prevention
August 13, 2008 / 8:36 am • By Dr. Melissa ClouthierA relative enrolled their child in a drowning prevention class. She is five months old and can float now and save herself. Go watch this video–as a parent, it is absolutely frightening to watch.
I have mixed emotions. On the one hand, of course children should be taught to swim as young as possible. It’s a non-negotiable at my house, not only because we have a pool, but because I just believe that all children should know how to swim, and at a young age. They also need to know how to rescue someone else because so many children drown trying to save a friend or sibling.
Still, does training like this give parents and families a false sense of security. The child in the video was clearly fatiguing. The training buys a parent precious minutes, but does it make tragic events more likely because parents or care-takers are less vigilant?
Cross-posted at RightWingNews.com
One Response to “Drowning Prevention”
August 13 2008 / 11:25 am
Reply
Mixed emotions? Are you kidding? Face up = good, face down = dead. That child was not “clearly fatiguing”. I don’t know about you, but for most people, floating is relatively effortless, and I would think even more so for a baby with substantial body fat. My kids have taken swim lessons, but I don’t let them swim unsupervised, and they know not to go into the water without supervision. Maybe I have a false sense of security believing they won’t go into the water without supervision, but how fine do we need to split hairs?