To ask if your children can swim? Is it important to you?

[Lionking1981]

Do you class swimming as important? We spend 100 a month on swimming lessons for our two sometimes leaving us short. My two were swimming with their cousins on holiday recently.My brother pointed out how much we all spent on swimming lessons and remarked none of them are great swimmers. They are 8,7,6 and 5. All in swimming lessons since they were 4. They can swim but we couldnt take our eyes off any one of them such is our confidence in their ability. Me and dbro were left in swimming pools by ourselves for hours from age 9. I have always thought it was essential and budget for it, going without other things.My class teacher told me probably only 50% of their 8 year olds can swim. Do you believe that is right?

"Because it can save your life."

Well so can knowing what to do when a herd of cows start rushing towards you, or knowing how to ride a bike safely- but nobody spends 20 quid a week for 4 years getting their kids taught those things......

I said that skiing and golf are necessary skills, not necessary life skills. There is a difference. A lot of networking and business is done on the golf course and you will be excluded from that if you can't play. As for skiing, it's necessary for my children to learn because we ski as a family.

My point about swimming was that I think of it in the same terms. It's necessary for the children to learn so they are able to swim well and enjoy doing so throughout their lives, not so much from the perspective of saving their life.

I think it is a skill that widens your choices and opens up new experiences. Like most extracurricular stuff. Would learning how to avoid being trampled by cows take years of weekly lessons?

It's up there with golf and skiing as a 'life skill', according to a pp.

I'm dubious about the efficacy of simply being able to swim in itself being a huge element in preventing drowning. The National Drowning Prevention Strategy acknowledges that half of drowning deaths in the last annual stats were people who didn't intend to enter the water, that cold water shock and alcohol are huge factors in adult accidental drownings (being a male student alone with some alcohol taken is a scarily common scenario), that ignorance of local tide/current conditions or swimming where there is no lifeguard are key for tourist area deaths, and that children having experience in swimming in open water in ways that might help keep them alive in a real-life emergency, is comparatively unusual.

Which is not to say 'don't teach your child to swim', obviously, only that people overestimate significantly how much simply being able to swim competently will keep you safe. Learning how to deal with a rip tide/strong current without panicking, or swimming in clothes, or in rough open water aren't things that are routinely taught.

"Would learning how to avoid being trampled by cows take years of weekly lessons?"
No. But neither should learning to swim.

"Learning how to deal with a rip tide/strong current without panicking, or swimming in clothes, or in rough open water aren't things that are routinely taught." No it isn't. Even if you do think that swimming is a vital life skill, being able to do butterfly stroke isn't. It's a money making exercise.

Oh, x- post, can I point out that I was the poster who narrowly avoided being trampled by cows this week, and, having grown up in dairy farm country, herding cows in and out to pastures for neighbours, and not at all frightened or inexperienced around them, I am the bovine equivalent of a competent , experienced swimmer. It made very little difference when something spooked a herd of bullocks as I was walking through a field on a well-used path last week.

Swimming is an essential skill to prevent drowning. Skiing and golf are recreational sports - nice to have, if you enjoy them, but entirely superfluous to safety.

Do be quiet, Bertrand. For the love of god.

So. If your child can't swim. What then? You've failed as a parent?

Being able to swim does not prevent drowning.

I was referring to be able to stay afloat and reach the side, not Olympic standard.
As referred to upthread my son accidentally fell into a swimming pool. It was crowded and there was a lifeguard but only I saw. One moment he was standing there - a split second later and just his sunhat was floating on top of the water. It was that sort of situations I wanted to address rather than any other level of accomplishment. We didn't continue with swimming lessons beyond the basic "learning how to swim" as it wasn't a hobby he particularly enjoyed (although he enjoys swimming and diving for pleasure/skill now aged 12 - a bunch from school often go together at the weekend - if he'd never learnt he would be left out of that so being able to swim has other advantages).

I can't imagine any parent I have ever met omitting to ensure their child learns to swim. It's a non-negotiable life skill in my book.

It's vital. When Dd and Ds had the school swimming lessons I went as a helper, half the class were in the beginner session with arm bands whilst the ones in the competitive swimming club were doing life saving skills. The gap in ability was shocking, many of the children had never been taken swimming by their parents.

My parents never took me swimming in my life. I've never even seen them in swimwear. I don't really remember friends parents taking them swimming either tbh.

I still managed to join a swimming club when I was old enough and learn to swim very well.

I can't imagine any parent I have ever met omitting to ensure their child learns to swim.

How do you ensure a child learns to swim though? If they have years of lessons and still can't swim what do you actually do to ensure they can swim?

It depends what you mean by knowing how to swim. I find it hard to believe that after years of lessons OP's children can't swim at all. If that really is the case then the teaching must be abysmal.

I would expect after 4 years of lessons a child should have decent technique in at least 3 out of 4 strokes and should manage at least 200m of each.

Apologies op, looking back at your original post I see that they can swim, just not so you can leave them unattended.

I omitted to ensure my child learnt to swim.

What are you going to do? Report me to SS?

"Do be quiet, Bertrand. For the love of god."

Why? Do you run a swim school?

I think the problem is that many children aren't ready to learn to swim as toddlers and it's a waste of money to start too soon. None of my DC had swimming lessons until they were 7 and I found they learned very quickly. I wasn't bothered about them doing badges or getting awards, just being able to swim a length of the pool.

I consider it an important life skill (say above riding a bike but not as important as pedestrian road safety) and one which is easier to learn as a child.

Mine went to lessons until they were competent at basic swimming/floating/life saving so they could go swimming for fun with their friends and be safe in holiday places/by rivers/sea etc. They continued onward if they enjoyed competing, medals etc.

They derived a lot of benefit from it as I did (and an income as beach lifeguard in the Summer) but I wouldn't have pushed on beyond decent competency unless they wanted to.

I never paid the equivalent of 20ukp per lesson though - my local pool currently has lessons at 3-5ukp per lesson depending on age/level.