Mandatory swim instruction for adolescents and adults has been of interest to me for quite some time. Many high schools and a few colleges require students to pass a swim test or take a swimming course in order to graduate. In the past, more colleges and universities has this requirement than at present, but most have dropped it, but a few still do, including several Ivy League schools.
It is always said that such a requirement is good because it helps to insure that more people become safe in the water. I wonder about the effectiveness of this. Do such swim tests/courses really work--do they really do the job they're supposed to do? Do they really get people to swim with ease or be safe in deep water? And what about fearful students, those with no aquatic experience and who are often studious or unathetic? Please go to the following websites and post your comments:
MIT Department of Athletics, Physical Education
Time to Swim or Graduate--Boston Globe
Welcome MIT Department of Athletics, Physical Education (watch video)
YouTube video: Adult Learn to Swim
Parents
Former Member
I haven't the faintest idea whether or not mandatory swim lessons for people who have reached adolescence without learning to swim are effective in teaching skills or reducing drowning. But your suggestion that "fearful" students are "often studious" really bugs me. I am quite sure that young adults who are afraid of the water are not any more likely to be "studious" than their peers who like to swim. I also suspect that they are not any less likely to be athletic, either.
And, conversely, I doubt that students who do like to swim are any less likely to be "studious." That sounds like the jock/nerd stereotypes.
I haven't the faintest idea whether or not mandatory swim lessons for people who have reached adolescence without learning to swim are effective in teaching skills or reducing drowning. But your suggestion that "fearful" students are "often studious" really bugs me. I am quite sure that young adults who are afraid of the water are not any more likely to be "studious" than their peers who like to swim. I also suspect that they are not any less likely to be athletic, either.
And, conversely, I doubt that students who do like to swim are any less likely to be "studious." That sounds like the jock/nerd stereotypes.
