Why can’t everyone swim???

[GorgeousFox]

Am interested in understanding what is stopping children from learning to swim? Is it the cost, lack of facilities, time constraints, something else?????

Really?

There are no spaces at classes near me. My kid is on lots of waiting lists. I take him to the pool but my teaching skills are limited!

All of the above.

I think parental enthusiasm in the early years has a lot to do with it. Mine were both in the water within the first 2 months and so did club etc and are amazing swimmers, but kids who start older sometimes have to overcome fear of water before they can start to learn.

Covid has killed availability, despite being 3 pools in our area

We're one of the lucky ones that retained our space but so many disappointments and waiting lists

I mean... you just answered your own question 🙄

I know quite a few people who never learned to swim and it's never caused them any harm

The lessons are expensive and progress is very slow. I taught my son to swim when he was 3. We spent two weeks at a villa in Spain and he just learnt. As soon as we came back to U.K., he hated the structure of the lessons, the noise, the cold water. They don't make it fun!

A combination of all of the above, as well as the fact that some parents just do t see it as important 🤷‍♀️ I take both of my DC (2&1) to lessons once a week, but my Sister often comments about how much money and time I'm wasting by taking them. Everyone's priorities are different.

What a very white British Christian middle class question!

money
background
religion
wether your parents can swim
access to a pool
transport

Well when I was a kid, lessons were started too late. I was 11 when I had my first lesson, was fearful of the water, wouldn’t jump in, didn’t like it in my face etc. we had no car and had to walk 2 mile there and 2 mile back in the dark and rain. I had 2 block lessons before my mum knocked it on the head.

Was never taken swimming as a child as my parents didn’t like swimming, hated the pool being cold etc.

I learnt to swim at 34

You literally answered your own question.
One or more of what you said.

Probably a mixture of cost, time, local facilities.

I'm taking my son to lessons at the moment. It costs me nearly £30 per month at the local council pool, the cheapest in the area, for 1 30 minute lesson per week. It's after school when my 5yo is knackered so I hate taking him because he gets silly when he is tired, but most lessons including the private ones are fully booked and I was lucky to get this place. I also have to take my 2yo with me and entertain her during the class.

Near me there is a total of ONE swim session that is not Adults only out of school time, on a Sunday lunch time (12-1.30). Which is often cancelled if no lifeguards available.

Lessons have long waiting lists and frankly the quality isn't that good. Too many kids, not enough space.

DD is in Yr5 having school lessons... and those however are fantastic. The few that couldn't swim at all are taught separately, but the rest are learning personal survival, first aid, water safety etc. I can't fault them.

Epic waiting list for lessons during the week. Were reluctant to commit to every Saturday for various reasons and even then still got those waiting lists.

Lessons are expensive. Can't be paying out ££ kids every week, as well as kit/transport etc when you struggle to find enough money for food etc

Lack of space in lessons at weekends.
Cost of paying for a block of lessons and difficulty in getting to swimming pool for low income families.
cost of transport to local pools for primary school children.

Swimming not seen as a "sport" in PE at school and as above with transport costs

Learning to swim is a life skill and all primary children should have the opportunity to learn.

Has the OP not seen how leisure facilities have declined over the last 20 years to so?

And all the other reasons others have given.

During Covid I went swimming and saw a school lesson but a lot of the time the kids were on the side (they could swim though and maybe not a normal set up).

It's also a question of what's the norm. In the Netherlands 99% of all children learn how to swim between age 4-7.
Weekly lessons taking between 1-2 years to get the basic diplomas.

I'm a swimming teacher many factors could be costs, availability, parents who don't prioritise swimming amongst other activities, ethnicity is another factor albeit the Asian community has taken swimming up more recently over the years and I am seeing alot more children from these backgrounds which is great. We do see many in school swimming who cannot swim at all which is a shame. We can only do so much and is dependent on how often the school prioritise swimming.

It can be quite expensive (£110 a month of lessons for my two because the council swimming pool lessons were all full and us waiting lists, I can't really afford it but I don't know what else to do I've been trying to get them into cheaper ones for ages but no luck so gave in)
and even just taking them swimming yourself is expensive (£24 for me and 2 children for 1 hour swimming at our local leisure centre!)

In our case it's a combination of cost, lack of facilities/classes, and DS1 being autistic. There's only one pool servicing our town and all the surrounding villages, the waiting lists for lessons are huge, the classes take up most of the evenings/weekends so there are hardly any public swim sessions and those there are are absolutely rammed. DS1 finds the whole thing too much - the lights on the water, the echoey sound, the smell - and so the rare occasion we did manage to actually get into a public swim session inevitably ended in a meltdown. I truly hate that my children are 9 and 10 and can barely swim, but I really can't see a way out of it...

Money, lack of availability of lessons, lack of transport.

Also turns out dyspraxia was making it extra difficult.

This was 13-17 years ago and I suspect nothing has changed.

Postcode and financial situation lottery.

Well it's taken us months post covid to get my son back into a swimming lesson spot!

Children get swimming lessons at school now, and have done for at least the last 20 years as far as I know. Sometimes it's me escorting them to lessons ( I think they get them for about 16 weeks). These are half hour sessions or slightly less when you take off changing time, and for children who have never been swimming before, it's not always enough to get them from being a non-swimmer who is too scared to get into the pool, to being a competent swimmer.
More funding would help, as would more pools.
Where I live ( London) 4 local pools have closed since I was a child.. that is pools within a 40 minute walk. Of the pools that remain, only one offers open swimming sessions regularly, so swimming for fun with your mates doesn't seem to be a thing anymore. You can go for lessons if your parents can afford them, but they are quite expensive.
If your parents don't or can't swim, and never have, they might not see it as important. DH can't swim, although he did have lessons but was too frightened as a child to benefit from them. He never had foreign holidays and swimming was just not part of his culture, whereas for me it was something I did with extended family, and was a major part of family leisure time. So I took my children swimming for fun, in the same way that I read to them a lot, because I like reading.