Incident in Solihull

[YoSofi]

Comments on news reports are saying that five children/young teens have gone through ice into a lake and are in a critical condition.

Really hope that all involved make a full recovery

We did crazy things, but we didn't do dangerous things.

My dads house was opposite forest with a lake in it. We also lived near reservoirs that apparently once someone swimming got sucked into the tube, and next to the river lea. We lived near water and were taught, drummed in, water safety 🤷‍♀️

Good for you. LOADS of people did dangerous things as kids.

My heart goes out to the children's families and everyone else closely affected, but this is not the time for judgement and I think this thread needs to go.

"My heart goes out to the children's families and everyone else closely affected, but this is not the time for judgement and I think this thread needs to go."

Agreed

I've just seen an from a BBC journo following this evening's press conference, in which she says that members of the public and emergency services personnel entered the water after the children fell in.

One police officer is being treated for hypothermia. 4 children in critical condition in hospital,

Searches continuing - they don't say if it's for another child, or if a Good Samaritan is missing

I'll bet they are. A parents worst nightmare isn't it, something like this happening?

Sorry, posted too soon.

Yes, she'd likely heard in the past not to look out of train windows. The children involved may have been told that it's dangerous to walk on frozen ponds.

But our local trains don't HAVE windows that open in the doors, haven't for years so it's not something we see every day. The windows had been opened by previous passengers and not closed by train staff (likely as train was standing room only).

These children may have never seen that pond totally frozen over.

I'm not phrasing myself very well but if something is unfamiliar to someone then they can react without fully grasping the enormity of the situation, and it only takes a split second for things to go wrong.

Please don't judge the children or their parents. They (or friends or family members) may be reading here and the last thing they need is people judging them.

We do go ice skating on lakes, ponds, flooded fields in Canada. People do check to make sure the ice is thick enough first. I have never done the testing but I believe there is a certain thickness and / or strength it needs to be.

There also ice roads that carry full on big rig trucks in the north. There are accidents but they are usually few.

It is definitely an art and not for the inexperienced to give the go ahead as that is when very unfortunate accidents happen.

My thoughts will be with the family’s of those involved.

@WildImaginings Excellent post! ^

As I have said before I lived right next to a lake, the vast majority of the houses surrounding it are council housing stock often with little in the way of gardens. Children playing on the grass around the lake and the nearby play park is an absolutely normal thing. I'm not sure telling the kids never to play out would ever happen, and tbh it is not in the local's mindset.

Perhaps when something is just there, it is harder to see the dangers.

I can't put it any better than this. Some people on here need to think before they type.

Appears two of the children were playing on the ice, got into trouble and their 4 mates went to help them. First two children are still missing.

Beyond devastating

Oh how horrible and tragic.
We've all done stupid and dangerous things as children, luckily for the majority of us no harm was caused.
I hope that the families have some support with them.

It’s so sad but I can completely see how easily it could happen.
Ice is so tempting and sliding around on it is really fun.
I’ve spoken to my dd this evening about it as she has started to go out with her friends and we live near a canal which is often frozen in winter. She said they have an assembly every year about not going on ice which is good but still easy to see how excited kids would think it would be fine for them.

@PurpleButterflyWings Goodness, having a shed sat on the ice is not something you could picture in this country. You ever watched that Ice Truckers program, they literally drive huge trucks across ice because it's so thick.

This is an awful event and I feel so awful for the parents too. Kids don't think, they don't have the same sense of danger adults do. They think it can't happen to them or maybe want to look brave to their friends etc. I can't even imagine what the families must be feeling.

My thoughts are with the families involved.

I know right !!! It's quite incredible isn't it?! Sadly, some children (and adults) think/assume that the ice is much thicker than it is over here.

There were photos on a Facebook group this evening of several people skating on a frozen lake local to me. A few people commented on how irresponsible and dangerous it was, but were shot down as killjoys. Someone else posted a link to the tragedy in Solihull.

I feel like we should have some sort of public education campaign over the natural dangers in this country (swimming in open waters, iced over rivers/lakes, caves, quarries etc etc). So many people are not aware of the dangers.

People would probably object as it's 'too terrifying' and sets off their anxiety.

I just don’t think we need one. Luckily incidences like this are very rare, it doesn’t often reach freezing in winter any more. It isn’t really for the government to ‘raise awareness’ of clear risks that parents should be teaching their children. The only thing similar to this that I think should be a school matter is swimming lessons.

I agree.

I remember the Thai cave rescue where the boys went into the cave thinking they’d escape the rain and that cave never usually floods but it did and they ended up going further and further into the cave to try and escape the water.

I did dangerous things. There but the grace of god...

We have a DVD called Charlie Says, which is all of the old Public Information Films. DH remembers being pretty much traumatised by them, showed our DC and they barely batted an eyelid. 😕

When I was at primary school in the late 70s early 80s we had educational films that were frankly terrifying. Don’t walk on ice, don’t fly kites near power lines etc. I feel like they were shown to us every other week they were so drummed in.
. A classmate managed to find himself up to his chest in quicksand in a quarry one summer, despite that being one of the warnings we’d been given over and over. He was a lucky boy.

are these types of things still shown in schools?