Another tragic death of a child swimming in open water .....

[GertrudeCB]

Surely it's time to bring back the frightening public information films to hopefully prevent incidents like this that happen every year ?

Another? Yesterday was the anniversary of the death of a lad local to me me. I posted about it at the time and was told I was unreasonable for saying there should be more education about the dangers.

I'd rather frighten children than learn of any more deaths.

I agree. My friend drowned when we were 10, she was a strong swimmer who got caught by a strong current in the sea. It made me terrified of water and I still can't leave the shallow end of a pool.

Its heartbreaking to see this happen year on year.

It's a heartbreaking story, but I don't think the answer is terrifying public information films, but proper education about how to swim safely in open water. People will always swim in open water in hot weather - trying to scare them out of it doesn't work. But it can be done safely if people - especially children - are properly educated about what the risks are and what you need to do to keep safe.

I think the real answer is to teach kids to swim, and to respect water.

I live near reservoirs and people don't understand that large expanses of water can be fatal.
It's usually nothing to do with being a strong swimmer or not.

Screamanger, it doesn't matter if they know how to swim. If they get caught by a current then swimming isn't always enough. They need to be taught what the warning signs mean, and they do need a bit of fear put into them to make them listen when they are told not to swim in certain bodies of water.

But that's the point - you have no way of knowing how deep/ the tempeture/ what hazards are under the water .
Until my disability I was a very strong swimmer, in a pool and the sea but I wouldn't swim in any old lake/ pool etc because as an adult I am aware of the dangers. Children need to be taught those dangers in a way they remember & those films did.

I attended a great course on water safety through my work - because of the risks associated with working over water. I think that sort of thing would be invaluable in schools if they didn't dumb it down. The guy doing our training gave us the facts in the most realistic and brutal way. He also pointed out that while he is technically a rescue diver...he thinks he should really be called a recovery diver because if he's not there when you get into difficulty, he's going to be retrieving a body not rescuing anyone.

They do need to be made aware of the dangers. I live beside a river, at the end of exams and term we get kids coming down to burn their books and party. They walk through our village with cans and bottles of alcohol and leave a right tip behind when they finish. The best is is that parents actually drive their under age kids down and drop them off with alcohol beside an in flood river. Theyget warned every year, but it seems it will take a fatality before people realise how stupid it is.

I think teaching toddlers what to do if in open water and they can't swim, is the answer. They do it in california.

And yes kids need to understand the dangers of water. The reality is that if you are realistic about water with kids it is scary, and parents would complain if kids are taught the truth.

There are different dangers. Obviously non-swimming toddlers are one risk but another is swimmers that go into dangerous waters. I grew up by the sea and was taught from an early age about currents and understanding there were safe and dangerous bits of the beach near me. Every year, I used to see tourists get into trouble. My beach growing up now has a lifeguard presence all summer and they are pretty busy.

Teaching children to swim is not much of a defence, though, Scream. When it comes to open water.
.. Even the most strongest swimmer is no match for the current or not say if their legs tied up in underwater plants ect.
Poor poor precious little one.
What her poor parents are going through doesn't even bare thinking about.
Her poor friends as well. It was obviously very traumatic for them, too.

I agree that a lot of adults do not understand the realities of what is dangerous in water. I see people doing dangerous things regularly.

It does not matter how many warnings are made, some kids will always take risks. As kids, we think we are invincible. I swam in rivers, went into derelict buildings and climbed trees. I was lucky that I did not come to any harm. It's only with experience that you appreciate risks.

It's so sad.
I think the biggest thing that people don't understand is how cold the water is. It may be 30C on land but the water is generally a good few degrees cooler so that tempting lake could be 20C.
It's the cold water that causes many of the fatalities.
www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/cold-water-feels-temperature-guide/

I remember the first time I swam in deeper water Atlantic. The coldness of the water makes you really gasp & you have to lower yourself in (from the jetty in a designated roped off area organised by the hotel we stay in) bit by bit to get acclimatised. You shiver & have to concentrate on keeping calm & not that the sea bed is 15 - 20ft below, do not gasp. Very soon the water doesn't feel as cold & you relax & enjoy the swim.

@Parky04 But that is the issue. Kids are just told not to do things, rather than how to do it safely. You can swim safely in some rivers. But you need to be taught how to judge what is safe.

Apparently about 400 people per year drown, and approx 1 person every 20 hours, dies from a water related death in the UK alone!.The problem is the beautiful weather we have been having, makes it so tempting to dive in !.We live near the sea ,and even though active lifeguards still patrol the beaches at certain times of year. People will still jump off the pier ,go swimming at night and so on.Maybe some of those old films brought up to date may help .Also on say FB or other SM sites to have pop ups just to warn of dangers ?!

Jaimebronde .I will take your word for it! .Sounds terrifying actually(Not much of a swimmer ,even though DF saved someones life !(from drowning!)

Schools near me no longer teach swimming as it is too expensive for the school, it is a very disadvantaged town and most parents don’t put their children in swimming lessons either. We live 10 minute walk from the beach! Most of the children in DDs class cant swim, she had a pool party last year and she was the only one who could go into the deep end at 9 years old. It’s an accident waiting to happen and I’m always shocked more local children haven’t been in danger.

Those Public Information Films from the 70s were terrifying but they worked on me especially the one with the figure in a black hooded cloak by the water.

Dottie that must have been terrifying for all involved!

the vast majority of people who drown can swim in fact 66% of people who drown in UK were classed as strong swimmers
non swimmers tend not to jump in lakes
non swimmers who drown tend to have fallen rather than jumped /dived into water
actually the temperature of water in a deep lake is closer to 8-10C not 20C even when land temperature is 30C the water only really warms up where it is quite shallow