Is Swimming a life skill (following on from driving thread)

[girlfriend44]

Alot of people here said that driving was a life skill.

If you drive can you also swim?
Do you consider Swimming to be a life skill too that everyone should learn?

In an emergency both are certainly helpful!
kid drowning in a river? Helpful if you can swim. Caught in a flood? Helpful if you can swim.
medical emergency and no ambulance? Helpful if you can drive. Etc etc

Driving is an optional life skill. It's not a necessity. Everyone who can learn to swim should as it could save your life. Different level of life skill

They're both important to us but it may depend on where you live and your lifestyle as to how you view them.

@paddingtonstares I agree with you driving is a luxury.

It also may end up being an archaic skill thanks to technology - driver less cars - and then climate change. As such I have concentrated on ensuring my little DD can ride a bike.

Anyway due to the risk of floods I want to ensure my DD can float and know to grab hold of something, so she's having swimming lessons next.

Yes. Speaking as a mother who’s child almost drowned. It is. Trust me.

Yes, I consider swimming a life skill. I don't consider driving a life skill, but I imagine it certainly makes life easier in some circumstances.

I have pulled someone out of the water.

my mum got an award in her teens for saving a growing man.

people have died trying to save non swimmers.

I strongly believe everyone should be able to swim.

You might not choose to swim in a river, lake or sea, but what if you fell in? What if someone close to you fell.in?

I genuinely don't understand the "life skill" thing? None of us are likely to fall overboard on a ship, or dive into a deep lake. We don't take part in any watersports, so I don't get how it's perceived to be a life skill.

Do you never go to the beach? Swim or paddle in the sea? Go to hotels with swimming pools? Go anywhere like a park with a lake in it? Have a picnic by a stream or in a pub with a river along the bottom of the garden?

Well done. Were they definitely non swimmers, or perhaps just swimmers who had got into difficulty in water?

People like that will just argue that they are never near open water so can't fall in.

The boy I pulled out of the water was a non swimmer who slipped off a wooden dock. Not sure about the man mum saved.

my point is if I couldn’t swim and mum couldn’t swim who knows what would have happened to them.

it is an important and essential skill that I believe should be compulsory in schools

It’s a life skill. We live by the sea and my eldest DC started swim lessons before school - a teen now and does teen lifeguard classes. Youngest is 3 and will start soon.

Swimming is obviously an essential life skill as it could save your life.

Driving is very useful but a choice.

My kids have swimming lessons, they are non negotiable! One really isn't keen but knows it's not a hobby, it's mandatory!

I can swim (and drive) and swimming for my kids has always been non-negotiable. But thinking about it, if you can't actually swim, as an adult it's pretty unlikely (not impossible but unlikely) that you will find yourself in a situation where you could actually get into difficulty. Almost all activities on rivers and lakes (boating, inflatables etc) require life jackets and if can't swim then you probably won't try and swim in the sea, go into deep water etc.

If you fall off a ship or out of a plane (?) then being able to swim probably won't be much help anyway, same for if you fall into a river while pissed.

I still think it's pretty essential though really, so you can enjoy stuff and feel a lot safer whilst doing so.

You did great.

The boy might have struggled with the shock of slipping off the dock into the water even if he could swim well though, I imagine. I don’t know as a non swimmer, who avoids water.

( don’t like beaches either )

Swimming is more important. You wouldn't accidentally end up driving a car, but you can accidentally end up in a body of water and need to be able to swim.

Yes I consider it an essential life skill.

It is a life skill and life saving skill. I don't know why this thread is needed... It is the only activity I insisted my kids did. I couldn't care less if they can play football or tie a reef knot. Though I expect the latter is useful too.

Being able to drive to a hospital could save a life in an emergency too, just throwing that in there.

44% of fatal drownings are a result of every day activities- people who had no intention of entering the water.

so I don’t think people can simply say I will never dive into a deep lake so I don’t need to be able to swim.

kids need to be able to swim 25 meters and understand water safety!

As a parent I would include swimming along with other practical skills like being able to cook, clean, do laundry/iron, budget etc
I also think unless you live in a city with good public transport driving is another life skill - I made sure both DC passed driving test before they went to university

Although only if you have access to a car. It isn't as simple as just being able to drive

I thinknit's a really important skill. I appreciate there are non swimmers on here who have managed to get through life not falling in or being in danger but there are also plenty of non- swimmers out there who het into difficulty. I live near the coast and it terrifies me how quickly kids can get out of their depth in the sea, even in calm conditions. Both my children and I can swim well in a pool and in the sea. They can both swim in deep sea water without panicking, you would be surprised how many swimmers can't do that. They have also been taught to have a good awareness of the conditions and how to avoid danger. I think the ability to swim is important but so too is awareness of the dangers of open water (lakes, rivers and the sea) the ability to swim doesn't always include that awareness.

Swimming is definitely a life skill and I think all children should learn asap for their safety. It’s much more important than learning to drive which you don’t even need if you live in a city.