Elizabeth McQuern - writer

By Elizabeth McQuern

(special feature published June 2008 in the Indianapolis Star)

Summer is coming, and with it a season of outdoor play and water-related activities. Swimming lessons are not just fun, but a necessity. Even if you're not planning to spend a lot of time poolside or lakeside in the coming months, now is the time to teach children how to behave around water, and educate yourself about the possible dangers of flotation devices.

Children can be impulsive, following friends, jumping after a toy that's fallen into the water, or wandering away from a party or a play date. Water is everywhere, with retention ponds and backyard pools dotting the landscape across Indianapolis, so it's important to teach kids what to do and not do around open water.

Emily Booth, Director of Emergency Response Training for the Red Cross in Indianapolis, explains that "One of the earliest lessons that we teach is how to be safe around the water, as well as in it. We find that there are many instances that can lead to more serious problems, and tragedies that are caused by improper behavior around the water. We start off with little kids, teaching them how to be safe while playing poolside, or by a lake with their parents."

Like most swimming lessons, Red Cross water courses start with the basics of blowing bubbles under water, floating, and safely swimming to the side of the pool. Higher levels teach stroke skills, and help develop endurance and confidence in the water.

Cari Swift is the Aquatics Director at the Jordan YMCA in Indianapolis. She advises that flotation devices have positives and negatives. "Flotation devices can give a child more confidence in their skills," she said, "but water wings are not used at any YMCA or Indianapolis pool because they can pop, they put the child in a vertical position, and they restrict arm movement." Inner tubes can also pop and slip off, Swift said, and the YMCA's in Indianapolis use Coast Guard-approved life jackets with all camp kids and member kids who cannot swim.

Booth emphasizes that flotation devices are not a substitute for a parent or care giver's undivided attention to a child near or in water. "Drownings can occur in as little as an inch or two of water, depending on the size of the child," she explained, "so it's important that a child of any age knows what to do in the water without any kind of flotation device."

Affordable swimming lessons are available citywide at family centers, Parks Department facilities, YMCA's, schools, and elsewhere.