Teach her to swim. Water safety is an essential life skill

The great sound in the summer is of splashing and squealing of children playing in water. The play creates memories your child will have for the rest of their life and always bring a smile to their face when they think back on those great times in their childhood.

In a hot local like Texas, it would seem redundant to remind residents to teach their children to swim. It’s an extremely hot state, and one of the only ways to cool off is to go swimming in a pool or lake.

Unfortunately teaching your children to swim is not a top priority for many and that results in drowning being the biggest accident killer for children between the ages of 1 and 4, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The statistics are particularly dire for children of African-American and Hispanic decent. These two groups represent 50 percent of Texas’ population, and yet 70 percent of African-American and 60 percent of Hispanic children cannot swim, according to research done by the USA Swimming Foundation. The numbers for White children are much lower as only 40 percent lack swimming skills.

The lack of swimming skills could be because their parents never learned to swim because only 13 percent of children know how to swim in homes come from homes where their parents don’t know how to swim. It doesn’t have to be this way.

When a child learns to swim, it reduces the risk of drowning by 88 percent. There is much you can do to keep your child safe. Along with teaching children reading and mathematics skills, parents need to think of water safety as an essential life skill.

Don’t be discouraged if you don’t know how to swim. You can learn at the same time as your child. Many municipalities, especially if the town or city has a pool or the local high school has a pool, offer swimming lessons on weekends and in the evenings.

When you do get in the water with your child, make sure she is under your watchful eye, even if the water is only knee deep. There are quite a few water safety devices, but many are mislabeled so you need to pay particular attention.

Life jackets are the best option for children who don’t know how to swim but want to play in the water.

A life vest is a safe bet for children especially ones with straps that go between the legs because that prevents the vest from slipping off.

Years ago parents used to use plastic floatable arm bands on children and think that was a safe route, but while they keep a child buoyant, it’s no substitute for the parental eye. They can also deflate and cause problems.

There is nothing safer than an adult in the water with the child. If you’d like to sit on the edge of the pool while your child swims with a floatation device, it’s best to choose one that keeps their head above water.

Pool noodles, flutter boards, inner tubes and floats are fun toys but they are not floatation devices. Children are at risk of capsizing while using these toys, so always watch your children.

Here are some other safety tips:

• When you get in a boat, always wear a life jacket.
• Always swim with a buddy.
• Swim where there is a lifeguard.
• Teach children to ask permission to go in the water.
• Never leave a child unattended in or near water.
• Avoid distractions when supervising children near water like phones and books.

Over the past decade swim academies designed to teach swimming to children and families have cropped up. They normally have very warm pools – 90 degrees – small lanes, weekend and evening lessons.

Goldfish Swim School, which is a dominate provider of child swimming lessons in the Midwest, is opening up a location in Houston.

There are two Texas chains to investigate.

Emler Swim School has locations in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and Southlake. The swim school holds 30 minute lessons for children.

Aqua-Tots is a national chain of swim schools across the country. In Texas they have locations in across the state including Brownsville, Flower Mound, Houston and San Antonio.