to think school should not ban goggles from swimming lessons?

[DizzyMum]

My dd in Year 3 starts swimming lessons with her school next week. The note from the school states that they are not allowed to use swimming goggles but does not explain why. When my elder daughter was in Year 3 and had these goggle-less lessons her eyes used to water terribly and she was in pain.

AIBU to challenge the school about it this time around? Can anyone think why you wouldn't let them wear goggles?

I made ds go swimming on holiday this summer without goggles because he had forgotten them. His eyes were streaming. I think he would have much preferred to have been pinged in the face. He doesn't need to overcome his fear of the water as he already swims 3x a week. He does however need to work on his front crawl and butterfly and only a sadist would make him do that without goggles.

At DS's First School the letter said no goggles unless the child had a note from parent explaining why they were required.

i thought it was because the teachers had to faff with them. When the DSs were having lessons there were always one or two that used to hold up the lesson asking the teacher to adjust their goggles every 5 minutes.

dd is having lessons with the school this year and nothing has been mentioned about goggles so she takes hers with her and uses them. Ours only get 12 weeks of swimming lessons in P5 so its lucky she can already swim!

Not sure a H & S Inspector would be in the least bit interested in children's goggles. Eye protection for welders, yes, but swimming goggles, no.

Some schools don't allow them, purely for the fact that making sure the children have them on properly (x 30 in a class perhaps), eats into lesson time.

Ihave ever worn them and when DD did swimming with the school, I never even though of giving her goggles . Her eyes were fine.

I never learned to swim properly as a child. In spite of many 1-to-1 lessons. I wouldn't put my face in the water for long enough. I could do a great doggy paddle, though.
I learnt to swim as an adult when I got goggles.
For me they were a revelation. Going without goggles doesn't make me suddenly a bad swimmer.
So very strongly YANBU.

Most of our children wear swimming goggles. There is no problem with listening to the swimming teachers.
I always had to wear them when I was younger because chlorinated water used to have a terrible effect on my eyes...I used to end up with blurred vision for about 24 hours if I didn't. However , I seem to have grown out of that now.

What takes up the most time on school swimming sessions is insisting girls wear swimming hats. Impossible to get on quickly!...and that rule has now been relaxed and girls only need to have their hair tied back well.(Though some still choose hats if they can get them on easily.)

I think this is strange. My DCs school had swim lessons from Reception onwards every Friday and they even specified a couple of types of goggles which were recommended- as they were easy to adjust and fit and didn't link. I think they were Junior Speedo something or a type of Zoggs- we did lose a few pairs along the way but I think only about 3 pairs in 6 years! They didn't wear them all the time- but were encouraged to wear them for stroke lessons esp crawl and butterfly. Didn't notice any pinging problems!

• leak not link!

I teach Year 2 and we take our children swimming. The children have to provide a doctors note and are discouraged from wearing goggles for the reasons such as safety and time constraints.
However the main reason I dislike then is that the children cannot see anything when they are wearing them. They can't see other children in the pool and the definitely can't see me as a teacher doing demonstrations etc. this makes them dangerous when u have lots of children with goggles in your group!
I once taught a girl who wore goggles and ear plugs! She couldn't hear or see anything and teaching her was a logistical and safety nightmare.

When it comes to teaching a swimming lesson goggles are a royal pain in the arse as so much time is wasted whilst the teacher has to fix several children's goggles so they are just the right size because the kids complain they are too tight / loose / foggy etc.

Besides some badges specify that goggles should not be worn.

My DD has just started year 3 so has this week had her first swimming lesson with the school, the children are not allowed to wear goggles but it is not a policy of the pool in our case as DD has been having lessons for at the same pool and wears goggles.

DD always brings a letter home prior to school swimming where we sign to give our consent to her wearing goggles.

Some swimming lessons do say no goggles til a certain level has been passed.

My experience is exactly the same as lljk's. My swimming teacher insisted that we would all learn to have our eyes open under water and swim like that. I never did open my eyes. And I barely learnt to swim. In my teens, I did learn to swim the breast stroke, closing my eyes each time I went under.

I was in my thirties before I challenged this wisdom, bought some goggles and learnt to swim.

What about children who need prescription goggles? DS1 is extremely short sighted and has been known to be felled by the footbath if he is not wearing his prescription goggles. So compareed to the argument that children can't see in goggles, actually some children can't see without them. Far more dangerous not to be able to read signs telling you which is the deep end and which the shallow end.

My dd loves water but always wants to wear her goggles. She even wears them in a paddling pool.

My eyes always sting when i get the water from the swimming pool in them. Id need googles to go swimming.

Obviously if you need prescription goggles, or if you have extremely sensitive eyes then they should be worn.

But a child who can learn to swim without them can be much more comfortable in the water. They can jump in, dive in, look around underwater, without the constant worry of goggles letting water in, or not fitting well.

I would definitely ask what the reasons are, as it looks like there are all sorts of different ideas and opinions. I prefer goggles - DS is 3 now and has worn then since he was about 18 months old. He can and does happily go in the water without them, but for his actual lessons where stroke technique is taught, they are essential. His eyes would hurt after an hour in chlorinated water.
I suppose it depends what the focus of the lessons are as to the reasons, OP, but fwiw DS' s class has never stopped for goggle adjustment - they get taught how to put them on properly and that's that! :)

I go to adult lesson and there are times when we are not supposed to wear goggles. We don't wear goggles when we are life saving etc. Also not allowed to star them when we are diving.
My dcs were not allowed to wear them in school lessons. They both have done bronze medallion and are not allowed goggles in those lessons.

Older DC's weren't allowed googles until they had reached a certain standard. This was because:

Dc fuss over them: putting them on taking them off, rinsing them out and at a young age they often need assistance and this takes up time.

Often the children that want to wear goggles are the ones that are terrified of getting their face wet - children need to learn not to panic with water in their face

My DC's swimming teacher said to bathe eyes in milk if they are really sore from chlorine. It seems to work on DH who reacts badly to chlorinated pools on holiday.
Doesn't really help in a school setting though.

I can't think of a more sure way of failing to teach children to swim well. Nearly all competitive swimmers, and serious recreational swimmers wear goggles because they serve a purpose.

Of course, if the schools wish to produce children who can only struggle to do half a length of head-out-of-the-water breastroke, then they are going about it the right way.

How on earth are children going to learn front crawl without goggles? Either they do it with their eyes closed, and risk bumping into each other or the sides of the pool. Or they open their eyes, risk panicing, make the whole experience unbearable. I've done triathlons, and it is far more possible to swim in clean open water without goggles, but even then goggles just make it so easier to see where you're going and concentrate on the activity.

Where does it end? I guess some might say it might be marginally safer for children who need glasses not to wear them, in case they break!

I never learned to swim because, in school lessons at the local baths, I would have had to take off my spectacles. Once I did that I could not see properly and the teacher never realised that. If goggles had been around then, I could have had contact lenses, gained confidence and learned to swim. Not being able to swim is one of my biggest regrets because I was unable to go with my children.

Ask why goggles are banned and say that they help children. It's not a case of H&S, is it? not that I know anyway.

I take my year 5 class swimming and the standard swimming letter, which the PE coordinator simply edits from previous years always states no goggles. However, I always have parents questioning it, so I check with PE coordinator and swimming instructior at the pool, and they say googles are fine for individuals that need them. To be honest, they don't seem to care. Just have a quiet word with the teacher, OP.

The teacher at DS's lessons spends a lot of time helping DC to adjust their goggles which gets right on my tits. Since my PFB is happy to swim without, I'd love it if they banned them.

I have all this to come but our two do wear goggles in their swimming lessons since the age of 3.5. I have taught them how to put them on / off properly as have the other parents of the children. All of the children put their goggles up to watch their teacher and then put them back for swimming in. They need to be able to see where they are going! At other times in the pool they don't wear them when just playing.