Should swimming instruction be mandatory as part of physical education/gym classes in public schools?
The idea for this question arose from a comment made by someone else last week in another thread that had gone off topic, and was reinforced for me personally this past weekend when the 9-year old nephew (non-swimmer) of a close friend of mine nearly drowned (but for his observant and fast acting uncle) and again this morning with tragic news reported in a local newspaper of the drowning of a child in a neighbor’s back yard pool.
I believe there was a time when swimming instruction was fairly common in PE in public schools. Although there was no swimming instruction as part of gym classes when I was in school, we had a free swim (recreation, but no instruction) as part of gym class in Jr. High (a generation ago). Moreover, the university I attended required all students regardless of major to pass a very basic swimming test in order to get their bachelor's degree. That requirement went the way of the dinosaurs about the time I graduated. (I read somewhere that Harvard imposed the requirement (now abandoned, I believe) after one of its students (Widener, for whom the library is named) drowned when the Titanic sank). I am not aware of any colleges that require this today, and I haven’t heard of any local school districts (at least in the metropolitan Boston area) that require students to learn to swim. (I think a few of the more affluent Massachusetts towns that have pools may offer swimming, but as an elective only).
So, what do you think? Does your school district offer or require swimming instruction today? Should it be required? (The utopian/libertarian side of me recoils at the thought of mandating anything, but the pragmatic/utilitarian side often prevails). I imagine the cost of constructing pools would be the major issue, but with all the money that gets wasted on everything else it would not be out of the realm of possibilities if the will were there.
Thinking back on of all time wasted on the marginally useful activities they had us do in PE/gym class in school, the idea seems even more attractive. Teaching swimming would be an opportunity to teach something really, really useful--not only something that could be life-saving, but that could also provide a life time of healthy activity. (I'm reminded of Paul Simon's lyrics (dating myself): "When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can even think at all.").
Pool availability is definitely the key component here.
I live in Evanston, IL, which is right on Lake Michigan (Evanston is, not my house - don't I wish!). The accessibility of the lake has always been one of the excuses not to build a public pool. This seems kind of dumb to me on a few counts:
The lake is only warm enough to swim in perhaps four months of the year (guessing July to October, often still too cold in June)
The beaches are only staffed with lifeguards three months of the year (Memorial Day to Labor Day)
The proximity to the sanitary canal in Wilmette means the beaches are frequently closed because of high e coli levels
Even when it's open and pollution is low enough, it might be too cold or too rough for novice swimmers - even when it's hot, westerly winds drive upwelling which brings cold water up from the bottom of the lake - brrr!
A toddler nearly drowned about a week ago (the kid's fine from what I heard). Apparently, the lifeguards squeezed down on the north/south limits of the swimming area after that incident, so on a brutally hot day later that week everyone was crammed in a small "swimming area" like sardines.
Evanston only has private pools (private in the sense that they aren't operated by the city), at Evanston Township High School (mostly closed to non-school activities - though there is a USMS team there), Northwestern University (faculty, staff and students only, unless you are fairly wealthy), the YMCA, the YWCA (very short "open swim" hours) and Evanston Athletic Club (really only caters to adults). The YMCA is really the city's "public pool", but it's not cheap to join, and you can't just drop in a pay a couple bucks to hang out for the day.
It strikes me as very short-sighted for a city the size of Evanston (80,000-ish) to not have even one truly public pool where kids can learn to swim or swim in a more controlled environment than Lake Michigan. (This is a city which not that long ago won the Illinois state boys high school championship.) Other Chicago suburbs have outdoor pools with typical "kiddie water park" features. Those might seem frivolous, but I think they attract families to these facilities and make it more likely that kids will learn to swim. Also, Chicago, has a much huge stretch of coastline (20-some-odd miles, much of it with beaches and lifeguards) and has both indoor and outdoor pools dotted all over the city. Of course, it's a much bigger city, but it still seems that Evanston should have at least one public pool, especially considering the fact that Evanston has a sizable African American population and the statistics about African Americans and swimming.
Just one data point...
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Pool availability is definitely the key component here.
I live in Evanston, IL, which is right on Lake Michigan (Evanston is, not my house - don't I wish!). The accessibility of the lake has always been one of the excuses not to build a public pool. This seems kind of dumb to me on a few counts:
The lake is only warm enough to swim in perhaps four months of the year (guessing July to October, often still too cold in June)
The beaches are only staffed with lifeguards three months of the year (Memorial Day to Labor Day)
The proximity to the sanitary canal in Wilmette means the beaches are frequently closed because of high e coli levels
Even when it's open and pollution is low enough, it might be too cold or too rough for novice swimmers - even when it's hot, westerly winds drive upwelling which brings cold water up from the bottom of the lake - brrr!
A toddler nearly drowned about a week ago (the kid's fine from what I heard). Apparently, the lifeguards squeezed down on the north/south limits of the swimming area after that incident, so on a brutally hot day later that week everyone was crammed in a small "swimming area" like sardines.
Evanston only has private pools (private in the sense that they aren't operated by the city), at Evanston Township High School (mostly closed to non-school activities - though there is a USMS team there), Northwestern University (faculty, staff and students only, unless you are fairly wealthy), the YMCA, the YWCA (very short "open swim" hours) and Evanston Athletic Club (really only caters to adults). The YMCA is really the city's "public pool", but it's not cheap to join, and you can't just drop in a pay a couple bucks to hang out for the day.
It strikes me as very short-sighted for a city the size of Evanston (80,000-ish) to not have even one truly public pool where kids can learn to swim or swim in a more controlled environment than Lake Michigan. (This is a city which not that long ago won the Illinois state boys high school championship.) Other Chicago suburbs have outdoor pools with typical "kiddie water park" features. Those might seem frivolous, but I think they attract families to these facilities and make it more likely that kids will learn to swim. Also, Chicago, has a much huge stretch of coastline (20-some-odd miles, much of it with beaches and lifeguards) and has both indoor and outdoor pools dotted all over the city. Of course, it's a much bigger city, but it still seems that Evanston should have at least one public pool, especially considering the fact that Evanston has a sizable African American population and the statistics about African Americans and swimming.
Just one data point...
Skip
