Putting up 6ft pool in public park - no garden

[itsgettingweird]

I really can't work out if I am or not!

I live in a street that's not quiet but not busy either. There is a public park that has loads of grass and a small play area and also lots if public open spaces.

Someone from flats adjacent to park has put up a 6ft swimming pool in the park. It's close to the play equipment meaning parents can't sit on bench by swings when their children play due to SD.

It's unsupervised and currently about 6 local kids in it (not sure if owner of pools kids or just locals or mixture of both)
It's not the mixing that concerns me.

But AIBU to think this isn't safe anyway but you really shouldn't do this as you then take over a public space when the whole family is there like they did yesterday evening?

There is a space that's a bit no lands land between park and flats that has a wooden fence (just like the single barrier) around it and I think if they'd put it there it wouldn't be so bad?)

I'm completely torn between thinking the kids need some fun after lockdown and constantly looking out of my window to check they're safe as no other adult around and the effect this is having on me relaxing.

So AIBU to think they shouldn't put it there?

THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN DID NOT SURVIVE! They drowned!!!!!!!

And still do. Can we knock it off with the shouting, please?

www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drowning

I remember the night they found the body of a 2 year old near where I lived when I was 12. He had been out playing with his brothers and sisters and they could not find him.

It was shallow, and no one heard him drown.

There are guidelines about children in baths too. You wouldn’t leave a small child alone in a bath as they could still drown.

Let’s face it, it’s not like it gets hot enough in England to swim for much of the year so it’s understandable pool safety isn’t on par with Australia, but for those who are saying a shallow pool is fine, wonder what kind of rules they think are reasonable surrounding kids & baths.

@StatementKnickers

Meh, everyone did stuff like this in the 1980s and we all survived. Unless there are very young (preschool) children in it unsupervised I would let them get on with it.

Everyone didn't do stuff like this in the 80's

The people who did this in the 80's are exactly the same kind of idiot doing it today.

So lifeguards at public pools are only there to supervise the under-8s?

Public pools aren't generally small and shallow. If any body of water is inherently dangerous, why no lifeguard at rivers, on all beaches, in gyms, spas etc? In fact, public pools are pretty much the only place we see lifeguards. For the rest of the areas we are expected to use our own common sense and educate our own children about how to be safe around water, and be looking after our smaller children in public areas.

THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN DID NOT SURVIVE! They drowned!!!!!!

Actually, children account for the smallest number of drowning deaths. 56 under the age of 11 in the UK in five years. Not thousands.

Accidental drowning in paddling pool numbers are vanishingly small.

I don't know why people collectively lose their shit over these kinds of things without actually looking at what the risks actually are.

a fair few have said that the risk of drowning is small, like that means there's nothing to worry about. That's a bit concerning. Risk assessment isn't just about how likely something is. It's also about how serious the risk.

Unsupervised pop up pool put without permission in a public place may have a low(ish!) risk of a child drowning.
But the risk is a child drowning!

Likelihood + severity. Even if the likelihood is small, if the severity is a fatality then it's still a red box.

Accidental drowning in paddling pool numbers are vanishingly small

I imagine the number of small children unsupervised in paddling pools is vanishingly small too.

@Alsohuman

Accidental drowning in paddling pool numbers are vanishingly small

I imagine the number of small children unsupervised in paddling pools is vanishingly small too.

This ^

The numbers are small because most people are not fucking idiots. If we all left young children unsupervised in polls the number of deaths would rocket. Common sense.

Why would you think otherwise?

Because it doesn't take someone who has worked for a swimming pool maintenance company (and let's face it, they could have been working in accounts or answering phones) to know that water goes stagnant and breeds bacteria if left standing.

The numbers are small because most people are not fucking idiots. If we all left young children unsupervised in polls the number of deaths would rocket. Common sense

And most people are not fucking idiots and wouldn't leave their children unsupervised in a public park, paddling pool or not.

Unsupervised pop up pool put without permission in a public place may have a low(ish!) risk of a child drowning. But the risk is a child drowning!

Crossing the road may have a low(ish) risk. But the risk is a child being knocked down and killed.

Gonna stop crossing roads?

I'm amazed the HA isn't more mindful of their responsibility regarding this! Especially now that they know it's there. If someone is injured, they will be liable. Their insurance could even be voided if they don't take immediate action.

And most people are not fucking idiots and wouldn't leave their children unsupervised in a public park, paddling pool or not.

Well quite. But that doesn't eliminate the risk of harm to the children who's parents are the fucking idiots.

As for supervison, a small pool is not much of a drowning risk. Even very young children will remember too breathe, its instinctive.

I’m not so sure about that. It’s certainly not something you should rely on.

We took the DC to the beach one time when DC3 was about 18 months.
The DC were paddling in the water, and DC3 was in about knee deep, so the water was less than 30cm deep where he was, when he stumbled and fell over face first into the water.

And then he just lay still and floated face down, he made no effort at all to right himself and get his face clear of the water. He just lay there not moving a muscle.

I was there supervising, so I got to him and pulled him out quickly, and he was absolutely fine.
He wasn’t coughing or spluttering, so maybe he did instinctively stop breathing when his face hit the water. But he was definitely not instinctively acting to get himself out of the water and to safety.

I don’t like to think what might have happened if I hadn’t been there supervising the DC, but it’s all too easy to imagine him continuing to float face down and starting to drown when he couldn’t hold his breath any longer.

many years ago family friends were moving into their new home a council house. while the adults were unloading they said the kids could play in back garden. what they did not know was previous tenants had left a small pond. within the hour the youngest child 18 months had drowned. while the others were playing she had gone to the pond whether she jumped in or fell no one knew but she died. the mother ended up in a mental hospital marriage split up very sad.

@MintyMabel

Unsupervised pop up pool put without permission in a public place may have a low(ish!) risk of a child drowning. But the risk is a child drowning!

Crossing the road may have a low(ish) risk. But the risk is a child being knocked down and killed.

Gonna stop crossing roads?

If you are using that silly road question to mock my post, surely considering that this thread is not about adults but is about unsupervised young children in water your question should be "going to stop young children crossing roads alone and unsupervised?"

Children used to get run over on the roads more frequently - I can remember a few in the 1970s.

Road safety, like water safety and awareness has been improved.

That is why the numbers killed and injured have gone down. But if we stop caring because the numbers are low, they will rise.

@Jaxhog

I'm amazed the HA isn't more mindful of their responsibility regarding this! Especially now that they know it's there. If someone is injured, they will be liable. Their insurance could even be voided if they don't take immediate action.

Because it's NOTHING to do with a HA. It's a pool own by a private tenant in a flat next to a park owned by the borough council!

The only involvement with HA is that they own my property. Pool isn't on my property and HA are not responsible to maintaining anywhere I go because they own my property! 🤷‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

If you are using that silly road question to mock my post, surely considering that this thread is not about adults but is about unsupervised young children in water your question should be "going to stop young children crossing roads alone and unsupervised?"

Children are still killed crossing roads supervised.

But that wasn't the actual point. The actual point is we don't avoid doing stuff just because the minute risk is that a child could die. If you don't like the "silly road" example. Children die in car accidents. Children die eating food. Children die in all sorts of scenarios but we still carry on doing those things. We don't say "there is a vanishingly small risk that something bad will happen, we need to ban that activity" We educate and take appropriate precautions.

OP you did the right thing!

Anyone trying to minimise the drowning risk is frankly too stupid to bother reasoning with.

Pool is emptied and chucked behind bushes currently.

So all good.

I agree with all those who say it's the drowning risk that was most pertinent. 10 kids running around yesterday with it and anyone could have been trodden on. It takes seconds to drown.

And some of those parents wouldn't have even known their child was playing in a pool.

At least at beach, lakes or rivers you expect water and have the opportunity to risk assess.

Chucked behind bushes? It will stay there then.

@NotFrozen

OP you did the right thing!

Anyone trying to minimise the drowning risk is frankly too stupid to bother reasoning with.

^A million times over. I'm stunned at the people almost falling over themselves on here to prove they are right, when actually they are so wrong. So very wrong. It's not safe. Kids can die.

What I don't understand is why kids young enough to want to go in a paddling pool were at the park unsupervised. By the age mine went to the park alone (11, summer before secondary school) they would have not been seen dead in a paddling pool in a public area.

@okiedokieme

What I don't understand is why kids young enough to want to go in a paddling pool were at the park unsupervised. By the age mine went to the park alone (11, summer before secondary school) they would have not been seen dead in a paddling pool in a public area.

I feel sorry for your kids tbh. What a bad outlook on fun at such a your age.

But, the issue here is that lots of small children do get allowed to the park alone . It's not remotely uncommon, particularly when the park is within hose reach of a housing area