I'm angry beyond the venting thread

[quicksilver]

I just heard about another child who drowned over the 4th weekend. There's been so many this year already. And I'm angry. The Stats have surpassed all of last year's #s already.
So I did some checking online:​

*About 800 children 14 years old and under die from
drowning JUST IN FLORIDA PER YEAR!!!
*It is the leading cause of death in that age group.
*Another 400 are taken to emergency rooms
* 15% don't make it
* 20% suffer permanent damage
* Florida has 3 times the national average of drownings
* 60 - 70% of those drownings are in swimming pools.​

We've have a law on the books since 2004 for residential
swimming pool safety, requiring homeowner to fence off
the immediate pool area with a 4' high gated fence.
Yet the stats go up every year.
There are programs in every county, if not most towns, teaching swimming and water safety. How can this be happening?
Most of these incidents are accidents due to negligence
or lack of communication between adults, who were to be monitoring these "babies". And to see the heart- break and anguish on these families faces on TV makes my heart ache. But it makes me more angry.​

When my niece was born (she's now 14), I hounded my brother to teach her not go near the water unsupervised and how to tread it, should she fall in to a canal or pond or pool. He knew how to swim, but didn't like the water. His wife, my SIL, still does not know, after living here 20 years.
He put it off and put it off. Finally, when she was 3, I brought her here and she was scared to death. I bought
all the bubbles for her arms, colorful tubes and noodles, and we started on the top 1st step, letting her sit there, like in a bathtub, watching me have a good time. Gradually I worked her to standing and sticking her face in the water, then kicking, etc, etc. Then I started throwing a quarter at her feet, and she went right for it. I paddled her around, played "whale" with her riding on my back, then moved on to her jumping in, then taught her how to dive, and when not to.
It took alittle time, one whole summer, but it was the most rewarding thing I think I've ever done. And knew she would alway be safe.
We have water everywhere down here. How could any adult not give this to their child. Did I mention, this makes me so angry?
When my mother's kids were born, she, being a city kid, didn't know too well how to swim, and was scared to death to stick her head in the water, so she made sure someone else taught us when we were all 3 years old.​

Please, please, let this be a warning.
If you know your kids can't at least tread water, even if you can't or won't go near the water yourself, find a way to give this lesson to your children. You can't always be everywhere, but you can give them the tools to help themselves.
I love the water and thank my mother every time I hear one of these tragic stories.​

I apologize for my ranting, and we're already halfway thru the summer, but all the more reason to bring it up now.​

 

[Jeekinz]

People are ignorant QS. There's now way around it.

 

[texasgirl]

I can understand the anger towards ones that are lax in watching, but, not all that drown are unsupervised. Even ones that can swim like a fish can drown. As my son learned when a close friend did 6 years ago, he was only 17 years old. Got a cramp in his side and went under, friends swimming with him were not even 5 feet away and they couldn't find him once he went under. It is a sad sad thing and everyone should be extra careful around water. My heart breaks evertime I hear about a child dying, no matter the cause.

 

[Andy M.]

This is a frightening situation. It's something all parents can address and act to minimize danger to their children. Proper swimming and life saving techniques can save a lot of lives.

 

[B'sgirl]

Thinking of that happening to my own kids makes me want to throw up. I flunked out of my swimming class three times but my mom kept making me retake it until I could stay afloat in the water and I'm very grateful to her for that.

 

[babetoo]

my son put up a fence around the pool itself. he has two grandchildren and intended to be super safe. also has a six foot fence around the yard '

several summers ago, his daughter-in-laws niece almost drown in a Jacuzzi . she is brain damaged and always will be, can't walk, sit up or talk at all.

her parents had left her with another relative, and no one noticed she had slipped away. no one know how long she lay at the bottom.

it is a tragedy that touched many lives. it is one that can touch anyone. so be careful and then be carefull even more.

babe

 

[quicksilver]

Andy, you are so correct for correcting me.
Thank you for the PM. I have changed the numbers.
To all who' ve read already, please check my #s again.
It's still appalling.

Also, you can see the following:

www.poolalarms.com/pool_drowning_statistics.html

Miami, Florida Drowning Accident Lawyer :: Accidental Drowning Statistics :: Duck Key, Florida Pool Drowning Attorney

Drowning Statistics

 

[Constance]

When my mother's kids were born, she, being a city kid, didn't know too well how to swim, and was scared to death to stick her head in the water, so she made sure someone else taught us when we were all 3 years old.

I wasn't a city kid, but I was like your mother when it came to swimming, and I did exactly the same thing, and both my daughters, and the grandson I raised are excellent swimmers.

 

[homecook]

I agree! I'm not a great swimmer and I grew up on the lake. I am not that crazy about water, I usually just float on a raft when I'm in the pool. We have an inground pool in our backyard and it is totally enclosed with a fence w/lock and bushes all around. People don't even realize we have a pool. My dd and ds both took swimming lessons and are Red Cross certified. My grandsons have been taught to swim by their mother. They both know they are not to be any where near the pool unless an adult is around. Saying that we don't take ANY chances. We are always outside when they are just to make sure they don't find a way to get into the pool area. It is very scary!!

Barb

 

[love2"Q"]

we live very close to the water .. my kids started swim training at a diving
center when they were 2 ..
has to be done .. when i grew up in scotland ..
part of school was learning to swim .. in P1 .. which is kindergarten ...
no child should be unable to swim ..

 

[GB]

I bought
all the bubbles for her arms

Your outrage is right on. People need to be more aware, better educated, and more vigilant.

I would just make one comment about the "arm bubbles". I was a swimming instructor and lifeguard as well as water safety and boating instructor for many years. I went to Red Cross Aquatic School for multiple instruction certifications. One thing they always stressed was that those arm bubble should never be used. They give a false sense of security. Too many people think that they can take their eyes off their kid for a second or two because they have those things on. NOT TRUE. Too many things can happen. The kid could float out of reach. The bubble could burst. The kid could go face down and not be able to turn over. The list goes on and on. The Red Cross highly recommends that those bubbles not be used.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

I don't have a pool because I've always been too scared that a kid (mine or someone else's) would accidentally fall in and drown. But all of my kids can swim, even if they don't like it.

Sadly, one of the greatest dangers to the very young kids is drowning in the bathtub. So many young parents really don't know that children should never be alone in a tub - even for one second - under the age of 6. Heck, I remember taking baths alone at a younger age but I also remember jumping around in the tub, too. That's how kids 4, 5 and 6 drown - falling and hitting their heads in the bathtub.

 

[Adillo303]

The number of deaths is horrible. A few things.

A 4' fence is not enough. Kids jump it or climb it with ease. However in my town, I don't think I can put one up that is higher.

An adult shoule be required to be in attendance at all times, preferably one that is trained to save people.

Some sort of a roll up cover for the pool that will support a person and can be locked should be required.

My next door neighbor is pretty careful, but, I still see the kids sneak out there occasionally. Also a couple years ago, their dog fell in when left out unattended and drowned.

 

[GB]

A 4' fence is not enough. Kids jump it or climb it with ease. However in my town, I don't think I can put one up that is higher.

A 4' chain link fence would not be enough, but the fences designed to go around pools are not chain link. They are make of a non-climbable material. The only way over them would be by ladder or something else propped up against them.

 

[DramaQueen]

I agree that drownings are bad enough and it really is a sad situation that so few parents realize the danger of taking your eyes off children around water. MY vent is the astounding number of babies and toddlers who are left in a hot car to die every summer. In Las Vegas the daily temperatures are always above 100 degrees and most days it reaches into 105 to 112 mark. A closed car can reach temperatures of 150 to 175 in a matter of minutes. What on earth is wrong with people who "forget" their babies are in the car? What about those parents who run into a store "just for a minute" and come out to find their children in crisis or worse. The parents are usually charged with child endangerment or possible murder charges. This happens over and over every summer and I wonder why judges don't make the punishment stronger. One woman was arrested for leaving her child in a car (outside temp 106) while she had a manicure. She said the child was sleeping and she didn't want to wake it.
The other danger of course is that the child could be kidnapped. Geez. Mindless.

 

[GB]

Very true DQ, but let's please try to keep this thread on the original topic of drowning. Feel free to start a new thread about leaving kids in cars. Thanks.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I started my kids swimming before they could walk. I played games with them, with me holding them tightly, and suddenly jumping up while holding their little noses, and then going under for a brief couple of seconds. I also poured water over their heads in the bathtub, both to be rascally (side benifit), but mostly, to get them used to the feeling of water in their faces.

After they lost their fear of water (which didn't take long at all, a half hour or so in the pool, I swam with them on my back, playing the whale game like Quicksilver. They couldn't harldy walk yet, but could play with daddy in the pool. Then, I taught them to swim, first, underwater swimming, followed by the breast stroke, side stroke, butterfly stroke, Australian crawn, and finally the back stroke. I taught them the flutter kick, the frog kick, and the dolphon kick. And then, I taught them the drown-proffing techniques I learned in the Navy, and finally, some of the swimming techniques learned in Scuba. Finally, I taught them water safety in boats, and different paddling techniques for canoe, and how to remove the water from a swamped canoe, and climb back in, all while in water over their heads. I also taught them how to get our of a rip tide, and to know the area you swim in. For instance if you get caught in a riptide, and swim sideways to it to get out, and then find that there is an offshor curent that parallels the beach, and you are swimming against it, you will just be carried further away from shore, and may never get out of the riptide before becoming exhausted.

The point of all this is knowledge. Knowledge gives you the ability to make informed and appropriate responses to situations.

I grew up on a 3/4 mile wide river that is 35 - 40 feet deep, with three of the worlds largest fresh-water lakes around me. Nobody taught me how to swim in that water. At 7 years of age, I taught mysef. I rememberd my own fear, and how it kept me from enjoyin that wet and wonderful resource off of my front yard. I was determined when I had my own children that they would learn water safety in every aspect I could teach them. They are all alive and well, and adults now, and all cwim like fish. My oldest son has taken up scuba diving, while my oldest daughter loves to canoe. My youngest daughter does it all, including kayaking, something I've never done. I have one son who is afraid of deep water, if there is a lot of udnerwater veggies growing, but not due to the water, rather he has a phopia about something comming up out of the weeds and nibbling on him, or taking a bite.

Unfortunately, even in fresh water, there are occasional instances of a big and aggressive fish, such as muskie, taking a little chunk out of someone's leg. But I've never had such an encounter in 52 years of life, with a lot of time in the water.

You can't protect your kids from everything, but you have a responsibility to give them every tool you can to survive in this world. Drowndings will happen, even among the best trained people. But it happens a lot less when you know your environment and how to react and act in it.

Oh, and don't take this as me patting myself on the back. Because this behavior, from me as a parent, should be the norm, not the exception, IMHO. Those of us who know these skills, and how important they are, should set the example, and encourage others to do the same.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Aera]

I just heard about another child who drowned over the 4th weekend. There's been so many this year already. And I'm angry. The Stats have surpassed all of last year's #s already.​

So I did some checking online:​

*About 800 children 14 years old and under die from
drowning JUST IN FLORIDA PER YEAR!!!
*It is the leading cause of death in that age group.
*Another 400 are taken to emergency rooms
* 15% don't make it
* 20% suffer permanent damage
* Florida has 3 times the national average of drownings
* 60 - 70% of those drownings are in swimming pools.​

We've have a law on the books since 2004 for residential
swimming pool safety, requiring homeowner to fence off
the immediate pool area with a 4' high gated fence.
Yet the stats go up every year.
There are programs in every county, if not most towns, teaching swimming and water safety. How can this be happening?
Most of these incidents are accidents due to negligence
or lack of communication between adults, who were to be monitoring these "babies". And to see the heart- break and anguish on these families faces on TV makes my heart ache. But it makes me more angry.​

When my niece was born (she's now 14), I hounded my brother to teach her not go near the water unsupervised and how to tread it, should she fall in to a canal or pond or pool. He knew how to swim, but didn't like the water. His wife, my SIL, still does not know, after living here 20 years.
He put it off and put it off. Finally, when she was 3, I brought her here and she was scared to death. I bought
all the bubbles for her arms, colorful tubes and noodles, and we started on the top 1st step, letting her sit there, like in a bathtub, watching me have a good time. Gradually I worked her to standing and sticking her face in the water, then kicking, etc, etc. Then I started throwing a quarter at her feet, and she went right for it. I paddled her around, played "whale" with her riding on my back, then moved on to her jumping in, then taught her how to dive, and when not to.
It took alittle time, one whole summer, but it was the most rewarding thing I think I've ever done. And knew she would alway be safe.
We have water everywhere down here. How could any adult not give this to their child. Did I mention, this makes me so angry?
When my mother's kids were born, she, being a city kid, didn't know too well how to swim, and was scared to death to stick her head in the water, so she made sure someone else taught us when we were all 3 years old.​

Please, please, let this be a warning.
If you know your kids can't at least tread water, even if you can't or won't go near the water yourself, find a way to give this lesson to your children. You can't always be everywhere, but you can give them the tools to help themselves.
I love the water and thank my mother every time I hear one of these tragic stories.​

I apologize for my ranting, and we're already halfway thru the summer, but all the more reason to bring it up now.​

You are very right to be upset. And teaching your niece how to swim was a wonderful thing you did! I cannot imagine living in a place where there is water all around and not teaching your children to swim. Thinking now teaching swimming to kids should be a mandatory thing. I mean why not have that skill in case you fall in water or something one day? No matter where you might be. I am from a city so I never learned to swim, I always wonder what will happen if my child ever fell in the water and I wouldn't be able to do a thing to help her. We were at a duck pond yesterday and she could easily have gone in, she is 4 and she cannot swim. I thought that just yesterday, what would I do?

Thank you for bringing this up, you made me realize the importance of this, all along I just kept thinking keep her away from the water, watch her, etc. but you are absolutely correct, how can I possibly be there all the time? I cant! She needs the ability to help herself. And as simple as it seems now, I cannot believe it never crossed my mind before to just make sure SHE can swim! Especially how its one thing I have always feared, which is drownings.

 

[Constance]

A sad thing happened here in our town a few years ago. A woman here had a daycare center in her home. She was wonderful and caring with the children...in fact, my grandson went there three days a week.
One day (fortunately, he wasn't there that day), when people were picking up their children, someone didn't get the door closed well enough to click the safety latch, and a small toddler managed to slip out the door without being noticed. It only took a few minutes for the woman to realize he was gone, but it was long enough for him to drown in the 18 inches of water in her small water garden.
I still can't imagine how it could have happened, but it just goes to show how little water it takes to drown a small child.

 

[quicksilver]

They say that most people (not all people) drown in less than 3' of water.
And yes, boiling in cars is another issue I have no stomach for, DQ, but haven't figured out how to stop.​