To let DS12 jump in and swim in the river

[Pleasedontputthatthere]

I have a 12 y/o son, he is a good swimmer, he is heavily into kayaking so knows some techniques from there etc. We live near a canal/river where kids jump in and there has unfortunately been tragedies from cold water shock.

DS asked if he wore his wetsuit and flotation device (life jacket) would I take him to where the river meets the canal to let him jump in. There is no current here as the ricer splits off to meet the canal and I am there with a line set-up should anything happen. He jump from a flat surface into water which he has already swum in, to prevent the risk of cold water shock.

I think that's all the info you need, trying not to drip feed.

Would you let your child do this with you sitting there the whole time?

^^This - a few summers ago at a local well-used and apparently safe river swimming location near us, a teenage boy broke his neck jumping in and hitting his head on a rocky part just below the surface. He was planning a career as a dancer and is now completely paralysed from the neck down.

I would never let a teenager do this as the risk is not just from cold water shock or drowning but from lots of things you can’t easily judge.

Too high a chance of ending up in hospital with some hideous bacterial infection.

You're going to get every range of response here and particularly, it being MN, the most cautious. Nobody can tell you X activity is safe particularly when we don't know where you're talking about. I would be much more cautious about my child jumping in a canal than in open water because of depth and the high risk of big objects and debris being in it assuming it's near residential areas.

Swimming in open water has risks attached to it. You can mitigate those risks by taking some precautions - like you've suggested. You're not going to eliminate them.

Swimming in open water also has benefits - teaching a kid to learn how to mitigate risk is one of them.

I'm quite risk averse but my kids have done lots of playing, jumping and diving in water - in sea, rivers, pools etc but I would never make a judgment until I knew the stretch of water or were with people who did.

Would you let your child do this with you sitting there the whole time?

What difference would you sitting there make if he got into difficulties?

He is jumping into the river in front of the canal gates, the depth is not an issue.

Just to clarify, there hasn't been any tragedies at this particular spot. The people that have died in the area were fooling around, had no protective clothing on and had not been swimming in there beforehand.

Grab the life ring from the side and jump in, we have discussed this, DS and I.

Why does he need to jump? He doesn't at all, it just encourages a dangerous attitude towards water.

And encourages others to behave irresponsibly too.

He sounds a sensible kid and you were there I think you were fine. N I wouldn't use mumsnet as a yardstick for my kids activities, loads of mums on here would have a fit if their child so much as sniffed a flower

It's the jumping that's the issue. As long as he's swum in the area he's jumping in and check the depth that's slightly safer.

No. Quality of the water in our rivers and canals is awful. If he doesn't suffer cold water shock he'll probably get some awful gut infection from ingesting ecoli

Water quality is seriously grim.
Very few freshwater sites nowadays are consistently within levels of contamination that are acceptable, i.e. not to expose either boaters or swimmers to dodgy levels of bacteria that can make them unwell. Reading up on some cold water swim groups' surveys (Henley to Sonning springs to mind as the last description I read) is just unbelievably disgusting. There's a lake that actually is used for watersports sessions not far from me in a different county - lots of occasions when it is teetering on safe quality. This has turned full about since it was no longer illegal to discharge untreated sewage into fresh water, that is, within a very small amount of time.

I signed up for this, happening this month over a weekend - might be worth taking an interest if you want to know whether your chosen location suffers from the same issues.
The Big River Watch | The Rivers Trust

I would be worried if he did it succesfully with a parent, it would give a false sense of security and he'd try it with his friends in not so safe circumstances.

I'm really not concerned by him ingesting nasty water, he's robust, he has a good immune system, we're not 'clean freaks' in general. If that was an issue then he wouldn't be able to kayak.

Exactly this . Not to mention just not worth all the risks.
Just go to a swimming pool

When you say 'canal gates' do you mean sluice gates?

Nope. He's too young and you sitting on the side wouldn't stop him from slipping, or hitting his head.

Not a fucking chance, no. A teen jumped in when I was little and just never resurfaced. Until about 3 days later. It’s sadly quite common to get into difficulties and die for any number of reasons, whether it’s in the river, canal and lake local to me and nationwide. Never think it couldn’t happen to you. Never would I EVER condone or encourage any kid to do this let alone my own.
Sit down with him and watch an educational open water safety video. Pay attention to it yourself.

Rivers re big no for me. You dont know where quality and whats underneath the surface

You seem to have made your mind up so I'm not sure what you're looking for on here

Having spoken to a river warden recently he said it's not safe to swim in any rivers now unless they've been tested. River wardens don't even put their hands in river water now unless they wear gloves 🤮

You need to be asking people who are use to rivers/jumping/swimming. I’d be confident with my son at a spot I know. This isn’t an aibu question. If it is then no. You should not allow your son to jump.

Is this your best plan? Now there are two casualties in the water. Can you phone the emergency services while swimming?

No way, there’s probably sewage in there 🤢