Heatwave water deaths - campaign required

[aurpod1980]

I saw the tragic news of two more lives lost in the heatwave, in water.

I believe there needs to be some sort of National campaign to warn people of the dangers of open water on hot days - or any day.

so many lives lost.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0p7j3lwepo

It's desperately sad, but there are loads of warnings out there and I'm not sure they really help - the problem with teenage kids is that they often think they're invincible and that it won't happen to them.

It needs proper swimming lessons. Lakes and rivers aren't inherently dangerous, but over confidence and lack of ability are. I live in a country with lots of water and only foreign kids drown. Our kids can swim 25m in winter coat and boots by the time they're 7. Almost everyone does swim lessons because it's viewed as terrible parenting not to, and their kids aren't allowed on school trips etc if they haven't passed their swim exam. You see so many people on here who think their kids can swim and they really can't. Those parents should be ashamed of themselves.

ETA: lessons aren't cheap. There are subsidies for low income families, but you pay for swim lessons before you pay for holidays and days out. It's called parenting.

There are national campaigns, it’s all im
hearing on the news at the moment.

It isn't about being able to swim. The best swimmers can lose consciousness by jumping into cold water. Cold water shock is what kills.

I remember the 'Julie knew her killer' advert but, as others have said, teenagers are spread all over the place now rather than reliably watching a TV programme on one of just 4 channels.

But I think something like that advert shown in secondary schools after the Easter holiday would help.

My child's school swimming lessons seems to have included lessons where they bring in a pair of pyjamas. I'm guessing that's an attempt to teach them that swimming is very different when wearing clothes. I've read about it in Adrian Mole but I don't remember anyone doing that when I was at the swimming lesson age.

That was included in my swimming lessons in 1973 and in my ds lessons in 2017. I can't remember which grade.

Social media campaigns would be the way forward. I got a video about keeping your arms under the water to be able to keep your head above the water in my Instagram feed recently.

It really is. Cold water shock isn't that common, and with experience you know when to risk it and can learn to expect it. You also know your limits so you don't go in a glacial lake. British water isn't that cold in the summer. It's rarely below 12°. Panic is what kills

ETA with the exception of the dark Scottish lochs which are crazy cold all year

Perhaps a compulsory school assembly then. about large open water and how cold the water is, and how to float, what to do/lookout for.

How about their parents? Parents do actually have to parent, we can't leave everything to the government.

Are they where 12-25 year olds get their news from?

Schools have visiting speakers and assemblies about this.
Kids have primary swimming lessons.
Parents need to do their job and keep an eye on their kids, gangs of feral teens in our local quarry despite best efforts of local police.
Local Facebook page blaming police, local landowner and god knows who else but what can you do in the face of very determined teens and a lack of personal responsibility and common sense.

Well perhaps there is no solution but hoping we can inform our own teens at least. 🙏🏽 heartbreaking news each day this week .

I lost one of my best friends to drowning in a reservoir when we were 13, and it was awful. It affected everyone, including myself, so these tragedies have really upset me.

One thing that struck me yesterday when thinking about this was how many Instagram posts showing idyllic open water swimming around the world. Yesterday, particularly the Portuguese river beaches. I can easily see how attractive open water can be.
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I think I saw it suggested on here before, but a rebook of the "Charlie Says" campaigns would be a good thing.

There are plenty of warnings but it wouldn't hurt schools to cover it in tutorial or assembly time each year if they don't already do this.

I don't think swimming lessons in an indoor or heated outdoor pool are actually that useful for this sort of thing.

Maybe doing a couple of outdoor swimming sessions in a lake would be more useful. So they can actually experience how cold it is even in May or June.

This of course would be a health and safety nightmare though.

It’s shocking how many deaths there have been this week. Half term coinciding with a heat wave is unusual.

Are there social media trends about swimming in open water? I never knew anyone who went swimming (other than the swimming pool!) when I was a teenager. Though I think we only had a murky millpond, no one would have thought about travelling to a lake/ river/ quarry.

Such a lazy argument. We don’t only leave parents to teach their kids about the danger of smoking/ drugs / crossing railway lines etc etc.

I think statistically you’re more likely to drown if you can swim. Teens who can’t swim aren’t jumping in rivers and lakes. The issue is people who can swim in a nice warm still pool, with no experience of what open water is like eg the temp, currents etc

It doesn't matter how you present the information. The issue is that many teens and young people just won't listen. They think they're invincible and will happily climb over fences, walk past warning signs and ignore people telling them the risks, as they just don't think it will happen to them.

It’s the temperature of the water which is deadly. If you jump into water this time of year, your whole body goes into shock and it takes a massive intake of breath, you can inhale enough water to fill your lungs with water and drown.

This. They think that it applies to everyone but them.

there are warnings every year and in general the kids dont listen.

these are the same kids in general who have e-scooters and are already taking risks by speeding and not wearing helmets despite going at 20mph.

risk taking in young males can be due to hormones and their brains still developing until they are 25 apparently. so there’s not much we can do if they ignore advice from parents and the current annual campaigns.

Let’s just not bother then.

Or maybe we should because some teenage boys do listen, they don’t smoke, do drugs or jump into cold water!