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.").
Dartmouth College has a swimming test required for graduation -- I remember it as 100 yds, but website says 50 yds, so who knows, memory is faulty. Most students take the test their freshman year. I always assumed the requirement had something to do with the fact that Dartmouth is adjacent to the Connecticut River.
I've long been thinking about this topic. I don't know whether I favor mandatory swimming classes in high school. All three comprehensive high schools in my city in Wisconsin require learning to swim. Students have to receive a passing grade in at least one swimming unit in PE in order to graduate. I believe many other high schools in Wisconsin, at least in the larger towns, require it as well, a situation probably comparable to that in prevailing in other states also. The state doesn't require it, leaving it up to the local districts to decide.
School districts are hard-pressed financially and some have eliminated swimming entirely from the curriculum. Swimming instruction in school is free and taking a required swim class in high school might be the last time a student will ever have a chance to learn to swim.
People should at least acquire enough aquatic skill to be safe in the water. Taking a swimming class need not be required to graduate but passing a mandatory swim test might be.
I worry that an aquaphobic student might be traumatized for life in a high school swim class and never like the water or learn to swim. Non-swimming children are already in the minority by the time they reach their teens, and forcing them to participate in a swimming class in front their peers could be humiliating and would add greatly to their anxiety.
The biggest problem encountered by physical educators is dealing with the great range of athletic abilities found among students. Some young people have superior aquatic ability and could qualify to be on the swim team. Most have average aquatic skills. A few have no swimming skills whatsoever and may never have been in the water. For these young people, acquiring the most basic skills can be extremely difficult. They pose special difficulties for PE teachers who may not know how to work with this population. As an aquaphobe myself who has struggled with this for years, I know how hard this can really be.
I've heard that in a local high school non-swimming students are taken from the rest of the class and taught basic swimming skills apart from the other students, although in the same pool. They learn to swim perfectly well by the end of the unit. Very fearful students can get a doctor's excuse to get out of taking the class, but I believe, in practice, few actually do.
If learning to swim is to be required, then why not offer special instruction one-on-one after school or on weekends where the student can move at his own pace with few others present and is not conscious of the scrutiny of his peers? Why not offer swimming instruction off school grounds in other facilities in the community or even in backyard pools, where students could get free lessons from an instructor certified to teach anxious students in a calm and relaxed setting? Students might be allowed several years to gain the required level of skill, if that's what it takes. After completing instruction, students could then successfully pass the swimming test required to graduate.
I'm no expert, but that's my take on it, for what it's worth.
I think the biggest issue here is that the elementary schools don't typically have pools, at least where I live.
If you're teaching them to swim in High School, I feel like the greatest threat of downing has already occurred. Most of the people you would have saved from drowning would already be dead. The stats show ages 1-5 is at the greatest risk. Why wait until middle or high school? The value of the program would substantially decrease if you waited an extra 10+ years.
The next group of at risk swimmers is young adults (14-24?). It'd be interesting to see how many of these people considered themselves competent swimmers. I think this increase in drowning is likely due to stupidity- not knowing one's limits, not swimming where it's safe, alcohol induced swimming, and swimming a lone or with less attention than a youngster.
Another important factor we haven't really talked about is who is teaching these children. I'd imagine most elementary school gym classes have 20, 30, maybe even 40+ kids to 1 or 2 teachers. That's a lot of children to oversee especially when they have no ability in the water. Then you'll also need lifeguards or TA's trained as lifeguards to oversee the pool.
If the school has the resources to reasonably teach early childhood swimming, I am all for it. I don't think it's a practical solution in most places. As with learning most anything outside (or maybe even inside) of school at a young age, it really comes down to the parents responsibility to provide the resources. If you're waiting until middle or high school to teach swimming, I think it's way too late. I think the purpose here is not to make them professional athletes, but rather to provide safety skills and who knows, maybe get some kids interested in the sport.
I think a better idea might be preschools contracting swim programs with local pools. It seems like it would be a better age and more realistic.
A bit off topic, but a timely article about a non-profit addressing this issue:
The Boston Globe - Thursday, July 26, 2012
Mandatory swimming lessons a lifeline in Boston
The Boys & Girls Club of Boston is nearly one year into an initiative requiring all members to take swim lessons. The program, launched last fall, is part of an aggressive approach to combat child drowning deaths — especially among the city’s black and Hispanic children, who are at a significantly higher risk of drowning. The approach taken by the Boys & Girls Club of Boston mirrors efforts nationwide to increase swimming rates among children of color.
www.bostonglobe.com/.../story.html
We had to take a swimming class in college if we couldnt pass a swim test . It was like 25 yards. As a lifeguard i had to tread water in the middle and wait
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.
Beyond access to a pool... schools are already hacking away at anything that doesn't smack of results directly related to government regulatory measures and/or ACT/SAT scores.
Taxpayers would have to pony up to add this course (whether onsite, or not) and most schools not located in wealthy suburbs are having a hard enough time just keeping the lights on.
Until schools can handle the basics, don't expect any new "mandatory" wishes to be granted.
If kids spent as much time being healthy & learning to swim & do activities - that does not make texting an activity, then yes it should be taught BUT how do they do this & enforce it ?
