Teaching swimming safety is different from teaching someone to swim. While it's important to teach youngsters how to swim or at least to be able to tread water or float for survival, it's just as vital that they understand why it's important to always use caution around home swimming pools, lakes, rivers or the ocean. In addition to teaching youngsters how to be safe, they also need to be able to recognize when someone else is in trouble and know what to do to help that person.
How to Teach Swimming Safety
Step 1
Take an online Red Cross swimming safety course with your student. The Red Cross offers many classes and tutorials, but one is particularly important. "Home Pool Essentials: Maintenance and Safety," an online safety course for pool and hot tub owners, helps people understand the risks of home pools, which is where most drownings occur in the United States. The online course also explains safety equipment and how to perform reaching, throwing and wading assists.
Step 2
Explain the basics of swimming safety to your student. Never swim alone, never dive into unfamiliar water and always wear a Coast Guard approved life vest until you are an accomplished swimmer.
Step 3
Take your student to places where people swim--lakes, beaches, rivers, public pools and water parks. You don't have to go to all these places in one day or even a weekend, but as you visit them, point out all the safety features on display at each locale, and discuss them with your student. Why does a swimming pool have a board with neck brace on it? Why do lifeguards at the seashore have surf boards?
Step 4
Arrange to have your student meet an off-duty lifeguard while you are visiting a venue. Ask the lifeguard to explain aspects of her job, such as why they wear a whistle, why they carry a rescue buoy, why they sit in elevated chairs. Why are swimming areas separated from boating areas? The lifeguard will be happy to describe why safety is so important while swimming.
Step 5
Explain that drowning isn't the only danger from swimming. A swimmer's safety is also threatened by cold water, which can cause hypothermia, strong tides and undertow, which can sweep a swimmer out to sea and germs and bacteria in the water, which can cause everything from swimmer's ear to intestinal diseases. While visiting a public pool, have a lifeguard show your student the pool filtration system and explain how chlorine and heaters keep the water safe.
Tips and Warnings
- Start teaching safety at an early age. Enroll your child or encourage your student to enroll in swimming classes. Knowing how to swim doesn't ensure your student will be safe around water but it decreases the chances of a mishap.
- Warn your student that even if he is a good swimmer, a swimming rescue is usually a last resort for professional lifeguards. Boats, surfboards and rescue buoys are preferred methods for rescuing a drowning person.
Things You'll Need
- Coast Guard-approved life vest
- Rescue buoy
- Rescue pole
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