Child Drowning and Prevention Safety

Child Drowning and Prevention Safety

As we endure this frigid Ontario winter, do you long for the summer days when you could pass the time with family in your backyard pool or at the beach? For many, winter means putting swimming on hold until next summer, but do the cold temperatures have to mean no swimming?

Winter is a great season to strengthen your swimming skills so you’re equipped to enjoy the water when summer returns. Below, are advantages of swimming lessons and the reminders it offers us!

Pools Are Very Different from Swimming Outdoors

Are you one of the parents that take a false sense of comfort in their child being a competent swimmer in the pool? Unlike with pools, rivers and lakes expose kids to water currents, cloudy/murky water, slippery banks and even submerged objects (rocks or logs) that can make swimming much more hazardous.

Kids Mimic Their Parents Behaviour

Parents must recognize this and strive to be excellent role models in and around the water. For example, if warning signs are present at a swimming location, read them! Warning signs contain valuable information and it’s crucial that adults read that information. Even if you won’t be swimming yourself, children can’t be expected to notice those signs so adults, so adults must be vigilant.

Lifeguards Aren’t Babysitters!

Many popular swimming areas have designated lifeguards on duty; however, this does not give you permission to take time off from supervising your children or any other children you have been entrusted with overseeing. Lifeguards are often tasked with supervising large swimming areas, in which it’s easy to oversee a potentially dangerous scenario.

Swimming Lessons Are a Great Tool

Not only do swimming lessons teach swimming technique but they also teach kids how to be safe around bodies of water, so as to avoid getting into dangerous situations in the first place.

At B&C Aquatics, we’re proud to offer both group and private swim lessons, to both children and adults, striving to increase their competency and awareness in around the water.