- Banned
- #81
remember though. We are talking swimming, not wading. There is a big difference actually. I see dozens of families of all races use the pool, but avoid the deep end. Only a few do, and they are mostly white or hispanic. Otherwise they cling to the edge if they go there.To answer the OP...I think a number of children don't learn to swim for two reasons: 1) lack of availability - if there's not a public pool or lake nearby you're less likely to have a chance to learn and 2) parents perception - a lot of parents don't really see swimming as a useful skill and so they don't focus their children learning, especially if they live in an area where their kids won't swim much.
Living in MI, we have lots of public lakes and pools within easy distance (and affordable being cheap or free admission) even from cities so the majority of our kids swim, and quite well. You see every shade of skin on our beaches and the kids all run and swim and have fun splashing and playing like little otters in the water. Here it's something you consider important to teach your children because they will, at some point, end up going to the beach with their friends and you don't want them to drown, there's a perception that it's a useful skill to have.
In a state with less water, the urgency to teach kids, and teach them young, to swim (or at least tread water and float) would be less, I would think, because those children are already less likely to end up in a drowning situation.
Just my own 0.02$ worth.
To really have skill in swimming, they need classes or work done with their parents and learn to stroke, kick, float, and be able to do more than splash or dogpaddle the 10 feet back to the edge.
Then again, I took swimming lessons for 10 years and diving for 1.
Anyone who cant SWIM has no damn business in the fucking water! If you cant swim put on a damn life vest!