May is National Water Safety Awareness Month.
Water safety is a topic that impacts all families. Drowning is the leading cause of injury death to children ages one to four—and the second leading cause of injury death for children ages one to 14, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accidents can happen quickly. A child can drown in as little as one inch of water and in as little time as 20 seconds.
The swim and water safety experts at Goldfish Swim School believe that every parent and caregiver needs to keep the following water safety tips in mind:
- Any time children are around water, designate a “water watcher” who will avoid cell phones, conversations, magazines and anything else that might distract the adult from watching swimming children every single second.
- The American Red Cross says that the number one thing that parents can do to keep children safer around water is to enroll them in swim lessons.
- Realize that floaties, noodles and plastic inner tubes do not protect against drowning. They are created as water toys, not lifesaving devices. Life jackets should be designated as U.S. Coast Guard-approved.
There are several basic skills that the water safety experts at at Goldfish Swim School work on with students every week. Parents can practice these skills with their children anytime they are in the water together:
- Work on getting in and out of the pool safely. Fin, fin, belly, flipper. Help your little ones learn how to get out of the pool by manipulating their bodies in this order: elbow, elbow, tummy, knee. This is a skill that children continue to use to safely exit the pool, even when they are older.
- Jump, Turn, Swim to the Wall! Let your child jump off the side of the pool to you and help him physically turn back to the wall and then assist your child in getting out of the pool by using the fin, fin, belly, flipper method. This teaches children to automatically turn back to the wall behind them to climb out. If a child were to fall into a pool, this skill is the quickest way to safety.
- Sea Otter Float. Work with your child on turning over and getting their faces out of the water to take a breath when he/she fatigues.
Goldfish Swim School has locations in Middletown and Manalapan. Goldfish provides swim instruction to children ages 4 months to 12 years-old in a unique setting with highly trained instructors, small class sizes (max 4:1 student to teacher ratio), shiver-free 90-degree pools, and a state-of-the-art water purification system. For more information, visit our website.
