Swimming Safety Tips For Kids
Swimming is one of the best sources of exercise necessary for healthy development of the child. In addition to it being the source of exercise, it is one of the necessary arts which the child should learn. In fact everyone should know how to swim, one never knows about at what point of time he will be at a place say on sea side where swimming will be necessary for enjoyment. It is easy to learn swimming during childhood and becomes difficult when the child reaches teens or goes beyond this age.
Before teaching the child how to swim or sending him for swimming classes, the parents should ensure to tell the child about safety tips necessary before swimming. The child should theoretically know how to face emergency situation if it ever arises. Tell the child that under no circumstances he should be non-serious when in water and should never go against the instructions. If at any time he is found indulging in some such activity that will be his last day of swimming classes.
In rural areas children often go to village ponds for fun and learn swimming along side. However, in urban areas one has to find a swimming pool to learn and practice swimming. Some houses in urban areas have small or normal sized swimming pools built in the back yard or the societies have a common facility for the residents. If there is one, the parents should take the child along. They should themselves go into the pool and then make the child enter and teach swimming holding him firmly.
If there is no such pool available at home look for the pool in some school nearby. Some schools provide facility of swimming classes on payment. Ensure that the school has a trained instructor. In the beginning it will be better if one of the parents is present nearby, this way the child will be more confident. If possible the parents should give first few swimming lessons to the child. The first few lessons can be with life guard or air filled tube normally available in swimming pools.
In the absence of such a facility in nearby school, if the parents can afford to pay, the child can be taken to some hotel where swimming pools can be used by payment on hourly basis. Some YMCA centres or other social organisations also have time sharing facility available quite cheap. Ensure that the water is clean, treated and the presence of some trained supervisor is essential, not only in the beginning but even at a later stage. But very first, all the swimming safety rules for children must be followed strictly to avoid any unpleasant situation.