KIDS ‘DROWNING WHILE PARENTS ARE ON PHONES’
Water safety boss says social media use can lead to beach tragedies
CHILDREN are drowning because parents have their ‘heads buried’ in their smartphones instead of watching their young charges, the water safety watchdog has warned.
John Leech, chief of Irish Water Safety, has issued the stark message to parents who are bringing ‘lethal’ smartphones to beaches and pools, saying: ‘Leave them at home. Don’t put your child’s life at risk.’
He said that parents are too busy updating their social media posts and ignoring their children playing in the
water – and he warned that a young child under six can drown in just 40 seconds.
He told the Mail: ‘That’s it, they are gone, while parents are on Snapchat or liking a post on Facebook or Instagram. It’s a huge concern for us at Irish Water Safety.’
His safety warning comes as families are expected to hit the beach over what is expected to be a sun-drenched August bank holiday weekend with temperatures climbing to 25C.
Latest figures show that 164 people were saved from the water in the last two months alone, while 113 children – rescued by lifeguards – had to be reunited with their parents after becoming separated from them on the beach.
John Leech said: ‘We are in a new era or phenomenon when it comes
‘This is how children drown’
to water safety because of social media and the rise of smartphones.
‘The rise in the number of children being rescued from our water is down to the rise in social media and parents being on smartphones on the beach.
‘Parents are walking around the beach with their phone in their faces and not paying attention to their children.
‘If they are not walking around, then they are lying down with the phone in their face. Our lifeguards will tell you that they see parents looking at their iPhone and not paying enough attention to their children. This is the way things have gone in our country with the rise of social media.
‘This is how children drown, due to lack of supervision,’ added Mr Leech.
The safety expert urged parents that if they must bring a smartphone to the beach, do so, but leave it in the bag for emergencies. He continued: ‘With young children, as we are well aware, they love water and if you turn your back and put your head in the phone, then it’s a potential life and death situation we are dealing with.
‘If you are looking at your phone and not your children, then we know from the statistics that drowning happens silently and quickly.
‘A young child aged between four and six can drown within 40 seconds at the most. That’s it they are gone while parents are on Snapchat or liking a post on Facebook or Instagram.’
Mr Leech stressed that making a phone call on the beach ‘is not an issue’ but getting distracted by social media apps is causing lapses in parental supervision of children.
He said lifeguards are ‘getting used to’ rescuing children whose parents have their faces ‘buried in their phones’. In the past two months over 200 hundred people have been rescued by lifeguards across the country. Of this 200, some 113 children were returned to their parents after being rescued.
Mr Leech remarked: ‘I would urge parents to not be engaging on social media on their smartphones while on beaches. We don’t want more children to die. They are putting their children’s lives at risk.
‘They are increasing the risks hugely by ignoring them for a 10 second social media post. The one thing we have learned from all our research on children drowning is that almost all are linked to lack of supervision.
‘You have to have constant supervision when it comes to children near water.’
Mr Leech added: ‘Children drown in seconds. It’s not necessary to document every second on the beach [on social media].
‘Don’t ignore your child’s safety for the sake of “likes” on social media. More children will die if parents don’t wake up to the need of greater water safety and less
‘Don’t become a statistic’
social media.
‘ The message is loud and clear, don’t become distracted. We get informal reports of children drowning because parents were looking at their phones. My God, no parent wants to live with that.
‘Don’t become a statistic; put your child’s life ahead of your social media and smartphone.’
Last night Laura Erskine, spokeswoman for MummyPages, Ireland’s most popular parenting website, reiterated this message.
‘I think parents need to realise the dangers of not paying attention to children on a beach. We don’t let our children cross the road on a busy motorway so why are we ignoring them on the beach.
‘Smartphones do not belong on the beach, it’s meant to be quality time with you children.
‘Parents engaging in social media and not paying attention to their children need to be more vigilant.’ Comment – Page 14 sean.dunne@dailymail.ie