It would seem to me that if time is set aside for PE classes anyway that using some of that time to prevent some of those nine children drowning every day is a good investment of those PE hours.
But it needs to be solved outside of the broken, dysfunctional public school system.
But how do you do it outside school? Anything outside of school is going to be optional. As you mentioned, the downside of requiring swim lessons in school is it's sort of a waste of time for those who can already swim, but think of the number of lives this could potentially save.
My college also required all first semester freshmen to know how to swim before they registered for their 2nd semester. They had to do something like a 25 or 50, any stroke, as long as they completed it, in like 2 or 3 minutes. There was a class for those who couldn't. But the instructor of that was pretty bad. It turned out that the water saftey instructor class took most of these kids and worked with them 1-1. I had a guy who wouldn't even get his feet wet. It was hard to understand, but I got him to pass the test after 3-4 weeks. Just taking the time to teach him to get in the water, do some kicking, etc did the trick.
I lifeguarded at a water park near Allentown, PA one summer in college. It is convenient for bus groups from both Philly and NYC, and we got many of them, filled with inner city groups. Many of these people had never seen a pool before, and didn't know the whole concept of swimming (some thought they could just float). Days at the 12 foot deep pool with slides got pretty interesting. Many of the guys were very athletic, and fought as we'd try to save them. Heck, I even had to jump into 4-5 foot water after people came out of a slide and were disoriented (and some knew how to swim), when they could just stand.
I myself learned to swim when I was about 4 or 5. I'm also from a large family (7 children), but my parents thought it was important enough for all of us to at least know how not to drown. Even in a rural community, we had a community pool about a 5 min drive away; which turned into a 15 min bikeride or 20 min walk (cutting through yards, fields, and woods), getting to lessons at 7 or 8am.
Wow, what a fascinating discussion topic. And so many opinions.You would think getting parents and communities to understand the importance of teaching every child to swim would be easy, but good luck. Fear of the water from previous generations, lack of funding for instructors and inability to convince school administrators that this should be a priority are road blocks. Communities that traditionally have pools and better socioeconomics have more swimmers than those that are resource poor. It is not secret that drowning rates are higher amongst minorities and that these populations generally lack access to water and more so swim lessons. YMCA First Wave, USA Swimmings SPLASH, the Josh Project, Swim Oakland are all programs that are trying to deal with this issue but until there is an all out publicly funded effort with resource allocation it will never be enough. In the early 1900's 11 people per 100,000 that swam drown, today it is 1 per 100,000 people, as an industry we have come along way, but until parents protect their kids better, public learn to swim is free and lifeguards do a better job of protecting bathers this will always be a problem.
Just a question.....for most of us on here.....Who taught us how to swim? Who taught us how to read?
I know for me it sure as heck wasn't any school I went to. For me it was that long lost word....Parents! When are people ever going to become responsible for their own kids and quit blaming the education system for stuff that should start right there in their own house????
Just my :2cents:
"You're in school for 13 years, something like seven hours per day. Seems to me they have time to teach you to read and teach you to swim."
Perhaps "they" can't swim either.
Swimming has been a huge part of my life and I encourage participation, however, it isn't the duty of a school system to teach children how to swim.
The focus these days is on test scores. We wouldn't want anyone to be left behind.
A local high school, the one my wife graduated from as a matter of fact, requires each student pass a swim test to graduate. Carmel High School. Carmel, California. Of course, they have a pool on site.
If there is no pool on site then it's my opinion that the parents need to take the initiative to get their kids water safe. The more you rely on the system to take care of you, the worse things will be.
Why isn't teaching kids to swim a requirement in school PE class? This should be a basic life skill. If the school doesn't have a pool, bus the kids somewhere where there is a pool.
Pools aren't readily accessible, especially in poorer areas.
That said, my kids went to elementary school in a depressed area.
Each year the 4th and 5th graders walked over two miles to the community college for swimming lessons for one hour, have lunch and then walk back, crossing through a very dangerous intersection. As a tax-paying parent I totally resented this for my kids' sake, who were bored by the entire ordeal, tired and sunburn by the time I picked them up. However, for the other 95% of the kids, this was the only opportunity they had to learn to swim. I was happy for them, but angry that my kids lost important instructional time so the other kids could learn to swim.
This is an important issue, sure. But it needs to be solved outside of the broken, dysfunctional public school system.
Here is what our school district is offering.
All 1st, 4th and 9th graders get 10 days(this is done on consecutive days) of swim instruction in leu of gym.
The HS has a pool and all kids are bussed to the facility for the lessons.
I have seen kids that were scared or timid about swimming come back and try out for the mini/swim team that practices at the same pool.
Given, swimming is a fairly well supported sport in our region with several schools having pools.
If your SD has a pool for HS sports and they are not offering swim instruction as part of the PE curriculum for elementary kids then you need to raise the issue with the school board.
At the ripe age of 40, I decided to learn how to swim--why--because I wanted to do triathlons. I could not put my face in the water--did not know how--did not know how to take a single stroke.
So many people looked at me as if I had 3 heads when I said I did not know how to swim. So along the lines of "inner city" and availaibility to swimming--here it goes. I came to this country at a very young age. My dad was promised a job--not here, but he stayed. Dad (the CPA) washed dishes and floors at a restaurant. Mom who was always a housewife went to work at a factory. Two college educated people did whatever it took to put food on the table--yes I remember those days vividly.
Fast forward, they have their own businesses; NEVER took any aid from the government; and thanks to them, my brother is a surgeon, I am an attorney and we have NO student loans thanks to our parents who have been extremely successful after working their tails off.
So while we were growing up, I never swam, nor did I ride a bike. (I do not even know if where we lived there was a town pool.) My parents could barely get us someone to look out for us while they tried to make a better life for us. As we grew older and our situation much improved, my brother and I had focused on other sports and swimming did not dawn on us. (Except my brother who had to swim to graduate from RPI)
So I can very much see why swimming in the inner city may not be the thing that parents do with their kids or where they may spend their money in order to get the kids lessons.
All that being said, Asphalt Green in NYC where I swim Masters has a GREAT benefit each year just for this--it is called The Big Swim. Here is a link to the NY Times articel on the event and info about the event below.
Sometimes, depending on your circumstances, swimming is not the first thing on your mind.....
www.nytimes.com/.../19swim.html
And here is a blurb about it.....
Asphalt Green. Some of the biggest names in Olympic swimming and diving were the headliners at Asphalt Green's Seventh Annual Big Swim, held on April 20 and 22 in New York. Among the Olympians attending were swimmers Rowdy Gaines, Dr. Ron Karnaugh and David Fox, as well as divers Mary Ellen Clark and Kent Ferguson. The Olympians presented awards to the winners at the meet and were available to have photos taken with all the children. The Big Swim Benefit raised funds for Asphalt Green's waterproofing program, a partnership with the New York City public schools that teaches low-- income children to swim.
