4 easy safety tips for kids to follow when swimming [to avoid drowning]

swimming Drowning kids children

By Fatima Virrey , Parent Herald Jul 15, 09:45 am

Photo: (Photo : Photo by Juan Salamanca from Pexels)

Swimming is one of the most favorite recreational activities of kids. However, if kids are not properly guided, they could drown or get into other forms of accidents. In 2018, drowning was reported as the leading cause of unintentional death to children who are ages 1-4.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around ten people die unintentionally per day due to drowning. What is more alarming is that two of those ten are usually children younger than fourteen.

Experts say that swimming is a good form of exercise, but kids should first learn a few safety precautions before they are allowed to go on swimming.

Here are some of the safety tips for kids to follow when swimming:

Children should know the depth of the water.

Aside from showing the children the safe exit points, parents should also guide their children on the depth of the pool. This guide should include a reminder of where kids are allowed to go or not.

For example, children should not be allowed to dive into the water less than 9-feet deep, but they should know how to swim after diving from that part of the pool that deep.

Children should know a few survival skills before swimming.

A group named Safe Kids Worldwide has five water survival skills for kids. These are:

A child should be able to step or jump into water over his or her head.
Kids should be able to float on water for at least one minute.
Children should be able to find an exit from the water.
They should at least know how to swim for 25 yards.
Kids should learn how to get out of the water without using a ladder.

Kids should not rely on water wings or pool toys as life jackets.

Sometimes, kids feel a little more confident when they have floaters around their arms. However, experts say that these are not life jackets, so they should not be treated as such. Even while wearing a water wing or while clinging on a pool toy, a kid may still drown if not supervised properly.

Kids should follow pool rules.

When swimming, kids should be reminded of the depth of the pool; also, children should remember that even if swimming looks like all play, it is not.

Children should remember that running around the pool and pushing a friend is not safe, and may lead to drowning.

Of course, the best way to ensure that kids will not fall to any accident is by keeping an eye on them all the time.

Adult supervision is always a must when going on swimming. Keeping an adult close to a child can be a reminder to kids that they need to behave, and at the same time, someone will help them if anything goes wrong. If parents are in a group with many adults, they could take turns in supervising the kids.