Parents – please be careful when your kids are swimming in the pool.
I’m not just talking about you not being there – that is an absolute MUST.
I’m talking about “being there” – watching your kids while they are playing in the water.
Last summer, we were visiting our relatives who have a swimming pool. My boys were so excited –a diving board, slide, hot tub and the large pool.
There is a deep end though, which is enough to freak me out.
But the kids were also playing with large floaters – you know, the ones that you can lie down on in the pool?
Well, my five year old went down the slide and into the water, underneath the large floater where my seven year old was laying down on. The floater was so big that my little one couldn’t float back to the top and my seven year old wasn’t even aware.
There were people around, yes… they were physically there, paying real close attention? Another story.
I jumped right into the pool to pull out my son from under the floater. He was frightened of course because he couldn’t float up, he said.
Today I read that two more children drowned in two separate incidents on July 12, raising the number of drowning deaths this year in Quebec to 44. Forty-four!
The list of tragedies is growing and is begging the question – what can we do? Prevention is key. These tragic deaths are preventable!
Mandatory swimming lessons throughout the school system are already being discussed – and I believe this is a great idea. Everybody should know how to swim.
Pool owners required to install fences seems common sense – already a by-law in various cities.
Kids drown quickly and quietly – a drowning child cannot cry or shout for help. Parents must WATCH their kids in the pool, never take your eyes off your kids. Simply being near your child is not necessarily supervising.
Parents, watch your kids!