Goggles not allowed for swimming lessons. Why not?

[lovecheese]

The reason given when I queried this in my DCs diary was for reasons of "practicality and safety". FFS! these kids are 9 or 10, they are not 4 years old, in what way would wearing goggles hinder safety? To swim well your head needs to go under the water, and I'm sure anyone would agree that this is easier - and safer because you can see!. Going to speak to the head next week and would be interested to hear if anyone else had come up against such crap.

Possibly due to the amount of fiddling/ incorrectly fitting ones etc.

Also some courses have elements that to pass have to be done without goggles.

i think its because if they do fall into water unexpectedly they need to be able to swim without. However I don't see any reason why they can't have them once they can swim without. Ask your swimming teacher EXACTLY what the "practicality and safety" aspects are, i doubt they'll be able to tell you coherently.
My daughter reacts badly to chlorine and goggles do help her eyes, however I am happy that she doesn't panic without them. She finds swimming far more enjoyable with so whats the problem

You'll probably find that the school doesn't want some with and some without as other parents might complain that they can't afford.

Fair enough that some elements need to be done without...but not all surely. As to fiddling, my DD spends more time pulling her costume out of her bum than fiddling with her goggles (perhaps they should ban those..or maybe I should buy her a bigger costume).

When dcs first had lessons (5 yo) their instructor said no goggles. Dd learned without and ds wouldn't put his face in the water. When they progressed to the next classes they were allowed goggles and ds has improved alot. Dd has to wear goggles because she swims in a squad and can't swim without them now. It seems rather harsh for the H/T to ban them.

I doubt the head makes the rules - more likely the swimming teachers (ie not someone the head has control over

goggles can really hurt if pinged

It's a load of old cobblers.

1. Child falls in a pond and wouldn't be wearing goggles. Aye, right - and if the child can swim, they are going to bleedin' well swim out of the pond, even with their eyes closed!

2. Fiddling - swim teacher spends a lesson fitting goggles correctly and explaining it to kids and parents - no fiddling.

3. Can't afford - £5.99 - do without summat for a week.

Drives me nuts - so many children held back or put off swimming just because of these stupidity and cock-eyed thinking and theorising.

DS1's swimming teacher positively encourages goggles. To the point that they have goggles they loan out to those that don't have them. She even started putting goggles on DS2 at 2.6 to get him used to the idea, for when he went into the 3yo classes.

This has come up in the news before, see linkshere and here.

Can understand that they want children to be able to swim without, but don't understand the ban, assuming they can swim without them.

What about children with sensitive eyes. Every time my brother went in a pool, his blue eyes would turn all red and irritated. I can't imagine that's good for the eyes.

Also, presumably because it's england the pool is indoors. Otherwise, I would insist on tinted googles to protect his eyes from the son (that's what my ds wears to surf camp).

I will threaten to withdraw her from swimming lessons if they will not budge on the issue. Which is going to be easier for them, allowing goggles or having to make provision for one child back at school?

most schools that say no goggles have a medical policy that allows children who are overly sensitive to chlorine to wear them anyway, so whinging mums usually just write a note saying little jimmy gets extremely sore eyes if he doesn't wear them.

most places we've been say no goggles until the child can swim proficiently (i think it's 200m) then they can wear them all the time as it's more about technique and training than water safety.

it honestly doesn't make any sense to me, the goggle angst. why do people get so uptight about it? just tell your kids they can't wear them. if they are struggling without due to eye soreness, the teacher will pretty quickly drop you a line telling you to get some. if they are whinging because they are scared of putting their face in without/ some other reason, it's probably better they spend some time getting used to being able to swim with and without (for convenience, rather than some other 'if you fall in a lake' reason). as in, next time you trek miles to a pool and heaven forbid, forget to put them in the swim bags.

that said, i'm assuming these 9/ 10 yos are confident proficient swimmers who are working on speed and style rather than getting from a to b without going under. the goggles thing has been a bone of contention at every school i've been to - i don't get it.

My DC's swimming school wont allow DC's to swim without goggles

I've heard some pools aren't allowing them. It's ridiculous.
I've learnt to always use goggles - if I don't, my eyes are painful afterwards from the chlorine.
I'd be interested to hear if anyone knows of any goggle related accidents.

The gym where dd has swimming lessons insist on them having goggles. She's 5 and is perfectly happy to put her face under the water without them on despite learning to do so with them on.

We have lessons with instructors that specialise in technique and they insist on the dc's wearing goggles because of the need to be comfortable with the face in the water. They also go underwater to retrieve toys etc which is difficult without them. I've been told that school swimming only wants kids to get from a to b and so techniques doesn't matter which means goggles aren't needed. I have a suspicion that schools/leisure centres prefer not to be responsible for thirty pairs of swimming goggles.

IME school swill not budge on this unless you have a medical note.

Re the "falling into the lake" scenario.
DD (age 9)has started a junior lifeguarding course. They are taught not to swim with their face in the water as the water will probably be full of muck and bugs etc, and so are not allowed goggles.

But she does wear goggles for "proper" swimming.

She suffers from asthma, eczema and hayfever and spends the rest of the day rubbing red, streaming eyes if she doesn't wear goggles. Of course, school will not administer Piriton if she has a reaction to the chlorine. Is that enough?

Update; have just e-mailed the head, decided to strike whilst the iron was hot etc. I will let you know what he says.

Rules for rules sake - we have a ban too, unless a parent writes a note to say they want their child to wear the googles, which absolutely everyone does, so no child is without googles, yet the rule remains. It lacks logic - parents are the ones to put googles in the swimming bags - surely that suggests that the parent wants the child to wear them. Sometimes it's hard to to respect school rules when they are so utterly pointless.
Is school a child's first lesson in dealing with pointless red tape? - it certainly feels that way sometimes.

oh yes, lovecheese, that'll do. they'll let her wear them with no bother.

onemore - of course it is. that's why people homeschool. but to be fair, it does a pretty good job of preparing you for pointless formfilling/ line-toeing and general nonsense associated with being a functioning member of society... doesn't it?

That is completely cack. :(
I never learnt to swim well until I was an adult because I didn't discover goggles until then.

chlorine bloody hurts. They shoukd be allowed to wear goggles FFS

all sounds very strange to me.

at our pool the teachers insist on kids wearing goggles for lessons.

In the last borough I taught in, the LA swimming teacher wouldn't let the children wear goggles for the 'what if you fall into the Thames' reason. Swimming caps were optional but boys had to wear speedo-style trunks, not the baggy surf shorts.

In my current borough the children are allowed to wear goggles if they so desire but anyone with floppy hair must wear a swimming cap. Trunks can be speedos or baggy shorts.

Personally I prefer the goggle-free, swimming cap free sessions because it means less lost property and fewer complaints from parents about the lost property. In neither borough was it anything to do with the school/headteacher though.

I didn't buy my own DD goggles until she could swim a length. She's now 5 and a half, sometimes wears goggles but doesn't bother much of the time.