With pool season just around the corner, it’s all the more important to establish or remind children what they need to do to swim safe. To help you get started on your springtime safety tips for your family, we’ve put together our own list of water safety rules for kids, starting with:
Regardless of a child’s swimming ability, an adult should always be directly present in the pool area and supervising the children. Children should recognize that the pool is entirely off limits if a grown up isn’t present.
One part of teaching water safety to children is having appropriate swimming provisions available. If you plan on having children in the pool, ensure that you have a sufficient number of life jackets available, or ask that the children bring them from their own homes. A good rule is to always have young children or inexperienced swimmers wearing their life jackets, regardless of whether or not an adult is present.
Whether the adult supervising the children is uncomfortable with the child’s swimming abilities, or the child him or herself is, they should always stay in shallow waters that are well beneath neck level.
Though most pool owners will have a non-slip surface around the pool, children still should learn to not run around the pool. These non-slip surfaces aren’t designed for fast running feet and are designed for slower walking feet only.
Part of teaching children to swim safely involves teaching them how to appropriately enter the pool by any means – including going down a slide. Serious spinal injuries can occur even at low speeds, so always have children slide or dive properly into the pool without entering headfirst.
