to wonder what he bruhaha is about learning to swim..

[AtYourCervix]

great if you want to but why the years of weekly lessons and enforced cold dripping and swallowing someone elses wee?

what's the point?

Because it's better to be able to swim than drown

Mostly to prevent people from drowning I suspect.

Love that word bruhahaha, will try to slip it into conversation at pick up.
Why would it take years to learn to swim? You don't have to swallow other peoples wee and, in the summer it is very enjoyable.

but realistically how often are you likely to be falling in a lake and at risk of drowning?

obviously different if you live on a boat but for the rest of us - if you can't swim you aren't likely to be jumping in.

It could save a child's life.

It means DCs can join in and have fun with friends as they get older.

in 2006 only 8 out of 147 accidental drowning deaths occured in "other swimming pools" (ie public ones where those that like swimming go for leisure/exercise).

Although as a friend of mine who can't swim says, you're more likely to put yourself in a situation where you might drown if you can swim, than if you can't.

I am inclined to agree with you AtYourCervix but I suspect we are in the minority.

Because it's difficult to learn as an adult and bloody embarrassing to admit you can't swim if you go to the beach or a lake or a river or your chlidren are invited to a swimming pool party.

And the drowning thing.

that's the UK figures btw - which I don't think include UK citizens that drowned in accidents overseas.

I very rarely post in AIBU but really yes YABveryU IMO. Being able to swim can unfortunately make the difference between life and death in the case of a waterside accident. I must have spent close to £500 since DD was 4 months old in swimming lessons. She can now swim without bands and would be able to keep afloat at least for a short while if she fell into a pond or the like. Money absolutely well spent. Also most children enjoy playing in the water so it gives them an avenue to have fun too. If you mean for adults then again what would happen if god forbid you fell into a river.

Crossed posts

You need to learn to swim at some point, but I would leave it til much later if I had my time again! Starting at 4 (or younger) mine took years to learn, a friend's DS started lessons at 10 and took about 2 terms to be able to swim a length - so much less hassle.

don't get it.

the sea is nice, and i've been know to throw myself in the occasional river or lake but the appeal of a cold, bleach filled urinal, filled with other peoples children? ugh

There is a risk, with young children anyway, that if they think they can swim they won't be as careful around water.

We live on a river bank by the sea so have invested a lot of time and money getting DD swimming early.
If I lived somewhere else it might not have occurred to me so much.
But it is a lifesaving skill as well as there being a lot of fun opportunities in and around water.

Because it's a fabulous form of exercise that can be disguised as Fun.

Because swimming is a skill that has lasted me all my life, like riding a bike.
If I'm on holiday, or in a new town, or away with work, I can always track down a pool and have 45minutes of meditation as I swim up and down.
It's the only sort of exercise I can imagine enjoying into my dotage.

Socy - there is evidence that children under 5 don't have the coordination to be able to swim properly - they can after a fashion obviously but they can't really do the strokes.

but the years of weekly lessons? are they necessary? if you want your child to learn to swim then can they not just learn from splashing about and jumping in (supervised)?

I loathed swimming lessons and refused to go. I didn't see the point in having to pick up bricks at the bottom of the pool, and the interminable 25M, 50M, 100M lengths you had to swim to get a bloody badge.

As long as you can actually swim, there is no point in lessons. Just teach your own kids to swim, it doesn't need a 12 week course of lessons.

Mind you I say that as someone who learnt how to swim out of necessity, I was thrown into Ilfracombe harbour at high tide when I was 3 or so, so it was literally sink or swim.

I taught dd to swim at that age - went swimming every week inthe pool, and in the sea in the summer. She swims strongly and has never needed a formal 'lesson'

sorry - i'm having flashbacks to 10 years ago when DD1 did a terms worth. It was hell. i'm wondering why i bothered.

Hopefully the figures are relatively low due to the number of children who have learned to swim.
Swimming lessons are not just a drowning issue though.
Throughout their life a child can keep themselves fit and happy through regular swimming. It is far safer IMO than cycling on busy roads or running in quiet woods and therefore probably the cheapest and most easily accessed way of keeping healthy for your child.
Apart from all of that it is just a great way of having fun and achieving for thousands of dcs across the land.

Because it's exercise and fun? But then I don't do the lessons thing with my boys just go along frequently and let them learn at their own pace.