Did you know that drowning is the single leading cause of death for kids ages 1-4 and is one of the top causes of death for teens? As a swim school, we are acutely aware of how dangerous it can be for a child not to have the proper skills to prevent themselves from drowning. With many children being home from school and parents being distracted by work responsibilities, we've been especially concerned that we could see an increase in drownings. With many families escaping to various bodies of water for a fun and social-distanced escape from the house, we want to make sure that the children in our community have the knowledge and skills they need to stay safe near water.
Lessons We Provide: Water Safety for Kids
1. Learn to Respect Water
Water is so powerful that when it's harnessed correctly, it can create power for entire cities. If it's powerful enough to create electricity, it's worthy of respect. While it provides a lot of fun during the hot summer months, there should be a healthy respect for the water from both adults and children. Though it shouldn't be feared, we recommend having serious conversations with your children about how important it is to be safe around water whether it's a bathtub, pool, river, lake, or the ocean.
2. How to Get Out of Pools
This seems like an easy one, but it can be more difficult than you think. Have you ever seen a puppy in a pool for the first time? They often swim to the side of the pool because it's closest, but they haven't developed the skills to know how to exit the pool without steps. Little swimmers often have the same tendency, which is what we want to prevent. In swim lessons, we teach children how to exit the pool safely so if they find themselves in a scary situation, they know how to get out of it.
3. Treading Water
This one can be difficult for some as we have some adults that struggle with this. If you can tread water, you can likely get to safety. If children are taught how to do this and practice it from a young age, they not only learn how to keep their heads above water but also go into adulthood being much more capable in dangerous situations. Swim lessons don't just save kids – they save anyone that may find themselves in an emergency situation in the water.
4. Asking Permission
One of the most important lessons we teach our little swimmers is to ask permission before entering the water. In fact, for all of our younger classes, they have to ask permission to enter the pool before every single lesson. So many accidents happen in a split second when an adult steps away for only a minute. Though some drownings occur because of a child slipping and falling into the pool, many occur because the child entered the bathtub, pool, or lake without asking. We cannot emphasize this lesson enough!
5. Back Float
If your family often spends time around rivers or oceans, it's important that your child knows how to float on their back. While treading water takes endurance when attempted for a long period of time, back floating is a good method to keep your head above water without using too much energy. This method can save lives in the case of a rip current or similar event.
Get Started Now
We want your children to be safe both in and out of the water. We believe it's important to continue swim lessons so we can teach your children life-saving techniques, but we also understand the concern with the current conditions. Atlanta Swim Academy is taking every precaution to keep you and your family safe. There is no evidence that COVID-19 is transmittable in pool water, especially since we adhere closely to standard pool guidelines. To learn more about what we're doing to keep you safe, click here.
We hope to have your kiddos back in class soon!