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.").
Parents
Former Member
In the 1950s more than half of US colleges had a swimming requirement, but now all except for a handful have dropped it. I think mandatory swim tests, as they are constructed today, are a poor measure of swimming ability, as they usually only require jumping in and swimming a few lengths of the pool. Much better would be requiring freshmen to take a comprehensive swimming course which would emphasize basic aquatic and survival skills. Berea College in Kentucky is the only school I know of that has such a requirement.
My area does offer a lot of opportunities for kids to learn to swim. The YMCAs have a very extensive year-round program for teaching children up to about age 12, as do several community organizations. Local colleges offer juvenile swim classes on the weekends or during the summer.
It doesn't seem feasible financially for elementary and middle schools to require swimming. I suppose high schools require it because they can better afford it, the fact that the schools have swim teams and the adoption of a more expansive concept of physical fitness which offers more fitness alternatives for students than old-style PE. Also, teachers and administrators may believe that high school is the time to catch all remaining young people who still have not learned how to swim, most of whom are assumed to have learned in their earlier years.
I think a common theme in this thread is the many unexpected difficulties in actually implementing a mass instructional aquatics program for all school children. Also, how good are the results--how well do these programs actually do in making kids safe in the water? How good are the teachers? I'm afraid there is evidence that the quality of swim instruction for all ages in this country may be deficient.
Maybe this is a subject for another thread, but why, according to polls, is the number of adults in the US with weak or no swimming skills so shockingly high? More adults drown than children. If learn-to-swim classes are so common, why are so many adults unable to swim? I 'm not sure of the answer. Maybe that's a convincing reason for requiring all high school students if not all college freshmen to take swimming.
In the 1950s more than half of US colleges had a swimming requirement, but now all except for a handful have dropped it. I think mandatory swim tests, as they are constructed today, are a poor measure of swimming ability, as they usually only require jumping in and swimming a few lengths of the pool. Much better would be requiring freshmen to take a comprehensive swimming course which would emphasize basic aquatic and survival skills. Berea College in Kentucky is the only school I know of that has such a requirement.
My area does offer a lot of opportunities for kids to learn to swim. The YMCAs have a very extensive year-round program for teaching children up to about age 12, as do several community organizations. Local colleges offer juvenile swim classes on the weekends or during the summer.
It doesn't seem feasible financially for elementary and middle schools to require swimming. I suppose high schools require it because they can better afford it, the fact that the schools have swim teams and the adoption of a more expansive concept of physical fitness which offers more fitness alternatives for students than old-style PE. Also, teachers and administrators may believe that high school is the time to catch all remaining young people who still have not learned how to swim, most of whom are assumed to have learned in their earlier years.
I think a common theme in this thread is the many unexpected difficulties in actually implementing a mass instructional aquatics program for all school children. Also, how good are the results--how well do these programs actually do in making kids safe in the water? How good are the teachers? I'm afraid there is evidence that the quality of swim instruction for all ages in this country may be deficient.
Maybe this is a subject for another thread, but why, according to polls, is the number of adults in the US with weak or no swimming skills so shockingly high? More adults drown than children. If learn-to-swim classes are so common, why are so many adults unable to swim? I 'm not sure of the answer. Maybe that's a convincing reason for requiring all high school students if not all college freshmen to take swimming.
