Heatwave water deaths - campaign required

It's nothing to do with 'the youth of today' but everything to do with 'youth'

Youth is a reckless time, evolution has made the strongest time of our lives into one where we are reckless - because you need that to survive as a species.

However I do think we need to find ways to share information in a way that the youth consume. I remember a child being saved by 'drop and roll' after he was set alight, because he had watched it on the Simpsons.

The ones that do listen don’t need a national campaign to remind them to use common sense and caution

We already do but there is an.issue that a 'boring' teacher in 'boring' school telling you not to have fun with your mates is unlikely to stick just by its very nature. I loathe Tiktok but do agree a big campaign on there would reach more kids and possibly be more well received.

Where we lived in the 1980s, everyone swam in the local reservoirs and lodges. I was one of the few lads that didn't, as My Mum would have gone wild. I still live in the same area, and if anything, I see fewer children and teens swimming in them. Some have improved fencing, but others are the same as when we were kids. So something has changed, hopefully.

We now live near the Fire station that has the boat that goes to drownings. Every time I see it go past, my heart sinks. That It's happened again.

There are litterally stories and folk songs from 100's of years ago telling people not to swim in lakes.

Everyone knows swimming in lakes can be dangerous, but it's also really really fun, ultimately I think the education lies with parents. You can warn all you want but how many of us actually have conversations past "don't swim in lakes" instead of "here's the why people get into trouble."

Me and my friends used to wild swim every summer, we always had a spotter, knew where to avoid reeds and debris and knew which bodies of water to avoid, it didn't make it safe but it did decrease the risks.

I think you’re missing the point in that teens , especially boys, think they’re infallible. And I don’t mean that in a nasty sneering way, but they just don’t think things will happen to them, ( just someone else ), and especially when in groups will just lark around and do stupid stuff. They know the dangers but just see it as a bit if fun /laugh and nothing bad will happen.

no change here, always been like it

We have had deaths and close calls locally.

Always at locations that have massive don’t swim signs along with other signs. Warning undercurrent not safe. Danger deep water.

People were climbing over fencing to get into the river at a particularly dangerous place the police had to be called. Again signs were on the fence.

If you can force safety adverts into tiktok and Instagram there might be a chance of them seeing it I guess. They'd have to be bloody good and short for kids to pay attention.

There needs to be a campaign to get kids swimming to a high standard and encouraged to go on to lifeguard training by the time they are teenagers. This happens in some European countries. The DLRG in Germany is a good example: https://www.dlrg.de

Courses are free or heavily subsidized. There is also first aid training. Mine swims every week and to get to a level of swimming more than a kilometer and starting lifeguard training has probably cost around 100 in course fees/membership plus a big time commitment. As well as water confidence they also have respect for the dangers, particularly open water.

Perhaps a compulsory school assembly then. about large open water and how cold the water is, and how to float, what to do/lookout for.

My school does this.

I think rather than more campaigns what we need is to make sure that kids learn to swim and receive some awareness of potential dangers as part of the school curriculum.

And swimming lessons are already part of the school curriculum.

But we also teach extensively about the dangers of chatting with strangers online, keeping your info/passwords private and malicious communications.

And, yet, we still have to deal with incidents every year because we're not parents and we can't be there at home to remind them and (some) kids think they're invincible and it won't happen to them and that adults are lame and out of touch, don't trust them and just want to spoil their fun. And some parents don't see a problem either.

Let’s just not bother then.

Or maybe we should because some teenage boys do listen, they don’t smoke, do drugs or jump into cold water!

there are warnings every year and in general the kids dont listen.

these are the same kids in general who have e-scooters and are already taking risks by speeding and not wearing helmets despite going at 20mph.

risk taking in young males can be due to hormones and their brains still developing until they are 25 apparently. so there’s not much we can do if they ignore advice from parents and the current annual campaigns.

This. They think that it applies to everyone but them.

It’s the temperature of the water which is deadly. If you jump into water this time of year, your whole body goes into shock and it takes a massive intake of breath, you can inhale enough water to fill your lungs with water and drown.

It doesn't matter how you present the information. The issue is that many teens and young people just won't listen. They think they're invincible and will happily climb over fences, walk past warning signs and ignore people telling them the risks, as they just don't think it will happen to them.

I think statistically you’re more likely to drown if you can swim. Teens who can’t swim aren’t jumping in rivers and lakes. The issue is people who can swim in a nice warm still pool, with no experience of what open water is like eg the temp, currents etc

Such a lazy argument. We don’t only leave parents to teach their kids about the danger of smoking/ drugs / crossing railway lines etc etc.

It’s shocking how many deaths there have been this week. Half term coinciding with a heat wave is unusual.

Are there social media trends about swimming in open water? I never knew anyone who went swimming (other than the swimming pool!) when I was a teenager. Though I think we only had a murky millpond, no one would have thought about travelling to a lake/ river/ quarry.

I don't think swimming lessons in an indoor or heated outdoor pool are actually that useful for this sort of thing.

Maybe doing a couple of outdoor swimming sessions in a lake would be more useful. So they can actually experience how cold it is even in May or June.

This of course would be a health and safety nightmare though.

There are plenty of warnings but it wouldn't hurt schools to cover it in tutorial or assembly time each year if they don't already do this.

I lost one of my best friends to drowning in a reservoir when we were 13, and it was awful. It affected everyone, including myself, so these tragedies have really upset me.

One thing that struck me yesterday when thinking about this was how many Instagram posts showing idyllic open water swimming around the world. Yesterday, particularly the Portuguese river beaches. I can easily see how attractive open water can be.
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I think I saw it suggested on here before, but a rebook of the "Charlie Says" campaigns would be a good thing.

Schools have visiting speakers and assemblies about this.
Kids have primary swimming lessons.
Parents need to do their job and keep an eye on their kids, gangs of feral teens in our local quarry despite best efforts of local police.
Local Facebook page blaming police, local landowner and god knows who else but what can you do in the face of very determined teens and a lack of personal responsibility and common sense.

Are they where 12-25 year olds get their news from?

How about their parents? Parents do actually have to parent, we can't leave everything to the government.