As a lifeguard, my worst fear is looking up from an empty pool only to realize that a child has slipped under the water and drowned without me noticing. In the summer of 2013, a six-year-old boy drowned in my neighborhood pool. He was part of the weekly camps that stopped by the pool each day to cool off from playing golf and tennis under the hot North Carolina sun.
During this time, my pool was only equipped with one lifeguard who was responsible for watching all the children who could possibly show up every day. The little boy wandered off away from the camp counselors and slipped into the water in a corner of the shaded area of the pool. He was unable to swim, and since the majority of children become submerged under the water within 10 seconds, he was not seen by the lifeguard.
The crippling fact is that he was not the only child who died in the United States that summer from drowning. According to the Center of Disease Control and Protection (CDC), each year 3,356 people die from drowning in the United States. One in five drownings are children under the age of 14.
The unanticipated drowning of children each year could be prevented if children were taught to swim in school. Every gym class that I have been forced to take consisted of either playing soccer, basketball or kickball with my classmates. Although these activities are exhilarating and leave everyone with a rush of endorphins, they do not prevent students from dying.
Starting in elementary school, children should be taught basic swimming skills that will allow them to stay above the water for over 10 seconds. Usually there are outdoor neighborhood pools that are located near elementary schools. Schools could take advantage of the pools in the spring and fall to teach their students to swim and only having the cost of using a bus. Whether the swim lessons are only day or a week, it will still provide children with a foundation of swimming.
According to the CDC, drowning is responsible for the most deaths among children between the ages of 1-4 than any other cause—disregarding birth defects. Teaching the majority of children in America how to swim in school will prevent drowning in future generations because they will be aware of the dangers of water.
The easily preventable deaths of children could be avoided if children are taught how to survive in a pool, lake or ocean. Starting the cycle of teaching children in elementary school will eventually pay off in the following generation when parents can teach their children basic swimming skills.
– By Sarah Helen Shepherd