Browsing through on of the many pool related magazines that cross my desk, I read a statistic that really caught my attention, especially in the light of the many public shootings that seem to be all over the airways and internet.
In 2000 550 children under the age of 10 died in backyard swimming pools, but during that same period only 175 children under the age of 10 died from privately owned handguns!!!
That is a shocking statistic, considering the sheer volume of handguns out there compared to swimming pools
On average there is a drowning EVERYDAY in the US.
Here is my take…if you have a child in a swimming pool, stay with them, watch them ALL the time, it takes around 3 minutes to drown, and a near drowning can leave your child in a vegetative state…I would even hesitate to allow another adult to watch my child, it is YOUR child and the consequences are just too dire to allow anyone other than the parent to watch a child in a swimming pool.
Finally, one of the most important skills you can teach your child, is to be able to swim and to swim well.
For more information and useful tips you can read the CDC’s Water Safety article.