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News, Six teenagers drowned after slipping from a wading area into the deep water of a Louisiana river on Tuesday. None of the victims could swim, nor could the adult bystanders who watched helplessly as the children went under. What percentage of Americans can't swim?
I think the question should be how stupid are you to wade into a river if you cant swim? Take a damn bath for crying out loud. Are we supposed to feel sorry for stupid decisions now?
Learning how to swim and teaching children how to swim is basic safety just like not letting a child put their hand on a hot stove burner or not playing with fire. That so few people understand this is shocking. It never ceases to amaze me the number of people who participate in water sports who never learned to swim.
Many people die from deaths that could have been prevented by basic, and I do mean very basic swimming skills.
I personally believe that every student in school should have a swimming class, early on in their education. One hour a day at the city pool in august until everyone knows how.
I made sure my son knew how to swim ASAP. I live on the water, and he's fallen in a few times now. But if I was a parent without the means, or the knowledge to teach my son to swim, where would I be then?
Drowning isn't always a preventable death, lets face it. If you're in the middle of a bay, or a swift moving river, bad things can happen to even the best swimmer. But in my mind, there is no excuse for what happened in LA the other day.
You know, where those kids went into the water after their friend, and all drowned one by one, because none of them knew how to swim. Then the parents were standing on the dock, and could do nothing, because they didn't know how to swim. The very definition of "preventable death" IMO.
I personally believe that every student in school should have a swimming class, early on in their education. One hour a day at the city pool in august until everyone knows how.
Another nanny liberal demanding that the government solve all our problems.
Memphis, conservatives don't want to pay for PE class much less a pool to for kids to swim in.
Perhaps being from a costal state, there was a lot of emphasis placed on learning to swim when we grew up - in a pool. People need to understand there is a VAST difference between having the basic skills of swimming in a controlled environment (such as a pool) vs. an uncontrolled one (such as the ocean or a lake).
As a child of parents from a rugged costal town in Ireland, I was WARNED about the rip tides and the current and how quickly you could be swept away. Again, this comes down to a parent's responsibility of teaching their child -and also ensuring their child is not at a location where they cannot handle themselves (school permission slips are one thing - having your kid go to a day at the beach and thinking they are NOT going to wade out with their classmates is just wishful thinking). Also, warning them to make sure there are life guards present BEFORE going in the water. To me, it's common sense.
Another nanny liberal demanding that the government solve all our problems.
Memphis, conservatives don't want to pay for PE class much less a pool to for kids to swim in.
LOL,
I think that children should be the one thing that money shouldn't be an issue for. If a kid needs something, physical exercise, after school programs, music classes, swimming lessons, whatever, none of it should be denied them.
Time and time again, nothing proves a better investment than children.
Swimming lessons should be part of the physical education in regular public schools. The schools don't need to have a swimming pool for this as they could be taken to a nearby indoor public school. I lived for 2 years as a child in England that is what they did with all the elementary school students for half of each school year.
I didn't learn to swim because my body since a child has always looked unsightly to the public, so I voted no. The public should thank me.
Maybe if the school offered swimming to you, your body wouldn't be so unsightly.
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