Got a child who reacts badly to chlorine/swimming pool water? School swim lesson days may be numbered.

[Doodle2U]

sheesh

We have one child who is brilliant at swimming but must wear goggles, otherwise, eyes swell, come up red and water like mad for hours afterwards. Swimming with eyes open, underwater, is the trigger.

Argument given to us for NOT wearing goggles was "If he accidentally fell into a pond or river, he wouldn't be wearing goggles and therefore, could drown". My counter-argument - "if he learns to be a proficient and strong swimmer, believe you me, if he fell into a pond or river, he'd SWIM!"

Article says this is a safety issue with the goggles themselves. So, why not teach them how to put goggles on and off etc?

'Tis madness methinks

Just me and you then, Pesto

Ach well, that'll teach me to remember to put summat contentious in the thread title!

Bloomin idiots!

IME most children react if they are underwater with open eyes long enough, it is because the water is full of nasty horrible chemicals - which is not the same as you would find in a river or pond. ANother self-defeating argument passed off as sense, now there is a shock

Well I did wonder about that as well Canute - even with the benefit of being trained to swim without goggles, how much use would it be in a mucky pond or flowing river?

Still, the news report is about the safety of the actual goggles themselves but it just sounds a bit wanky-bollocks to me. Plastic gets slippy when wet....well, erm...yes, as do tiled floors. Shall we make the kids wear rubber shoes to the pool? Goggles snap back into eyes...well, erm....yes, they could but a pencil is an offensive weapon to your average eye on a bad day.

DS2 has been told the "if you fall into a river..." line and is not allowed to wear goggles for his school swimming lessons. I was fully prepared to fight his corner and insist that he wore goggles but he has actually been happy to swim without them. Banning them on H&S grounds is just plain siily.

So do they have to be fully clothed for every swimming lesson as well?

Because if they fell into a river...

Ds is allowed goggles in school swimming lessons but not in our after school (ie not at school) swimming lesson. They reckon that children spend too much time fiddling with goggles and not paying attention. He reacts to chlorine - bulging red eyes - but doesn't seem bothered by it and it goes overnight.

There's a gap in the market for 'safe' goggles then.
These ones are too slippery, the plastic too hard, and the band too elastic.
I hope someone gets onto this soon, as this is silly.

Meant to say too, that I forgot DD's goggles for her lesson the other other week - and it really adversely effected her swimming, and how much she got out out of the class.

Has anyone actually ever heard of a swimmer receiving an injury from goggles?

I am sure my DD would simply not go swimming if she couldn't wear goggles. Her eyes a quite sensitive to chlourine but not so bad that I would bother getting a doctors note for her.

What annoys me about it though is it is just one school going too far again the guidelines say that parents should be told of the dangers and how to use goggles properly, not "destroy all goggles or our children will be injured".

Just like the conkers, it became urban myth that the HSE had said conkers should be banned in schools when really it was just a school who banned them. How long will it be before everyone believes that goggles are banned from all schools! (mind you I am lucky enough to deal with very sensible schools who seem to be able to see beyond hype and idiocy!)

TBH, if I were at that school I would be tempted to get all the parents together to go to the docs and get permission granted for wearing goggles, just to invalidate the schools foolish decision - but I am a bit of a rabble rouser sometimes

I'll join you on the rabble-raising benches then although I didn't trouble my doctor with it. I just wrote to school and told them he'd be wearing goggles - end of. I did explain that if he didn't, every Tuesday lunchtime, they'd be phoning me to come and pick him up because of the reaction and this would mean him missing out on an afternoon of education.

Foam goggles...I wonder...

So do they have to be fully clothed for every swimming lesson as well?

Because if they fell into a river...

er yes

DD yr6 has to swim in 2 long sleeve tops and a pair of trousers for her school lessons

and DS has just passed his Bronze Medallion and all his lessons are in clothes.