Here’s how to keep your kids safe while taking a dip
When it comes to pool safety, it pays to be bananas
I gotta guy who was able to score me one of those Intex pools. A small one, circular, eight feet across, 30 inches deep. Got it for $60
— the retail price
— but you can’t get them retail this summer. They’re going for over $350 if you can find one online. So yes, #blessed.
As a result, I’ve spent hours of my life lecturing my children and my wife about the dangers of the pool, how it only takes six inches of water to drown, how someone has to have eyes on the kids if they’re going in, etc.
Am I bananas? Yes, but when it comes to pool safety, I will remain bananas. Especially this summer, when experts fear backyard drownings may skyrocket due to COVID-19.
“It could be much worse this summer because parents are home and working, but they’re distracted,” said Corina Simms, the swim lesson director at Peddie Aquatics. “They’re not paying attention.”
First-glance statistics seem to back this up, as child drownings in Florida were up 70% as of April. Obviously, pools in the Sunshine State are open yearround, but it’s just the last few weeks that New Jersey’s pools are glimpsing their first taste of chlorine this season. And there’s already been a handful of pool tragedies.
“A lot of camps are closed, there’s nowhere to go, and kids are trying to find things to do,” Simms said. “And they’ll find their way into pools.”
And it’s not just big-ol’ inground pools we need to be aware of; kids can “drown in a bucket,” as Simmis points out. She says even the small inflatable pools need to be watched — especially with toddlers — and they should be emptied each night. As for my oh-so-special Intex? Same thing. Already this summer my 9-yearold — who has mild intellectual disabilities — ended up ha-ha jokingly sitting on her much stronger 11-year-old brother. Was he in danger? Well, sorta, as when I pushed her off him he came up … well, let’s just say he was strongly questioning his sister’s decisionmaking skills.
Listen — I’m not trying to Karen y’all into compliance when it comes to backyard pools, but really: Drownings are the number one cause of deaths in kids 1-4, and the second leading cause in kids 5-9.
So how to make sure this tragedy doesn’t happen to your kids?
“You want layers of protection,” Simms said. “Nothing beats your undivided attention, but you should also have a fence around the pool and door alarms — even just chimes — so you know if someone went outside.”
Simms also points out that if you have a social(ly distant) gathering this summer, it’s worth paying the $15-$20 an hour to hire a certified lifeguard.
“Parents will be socializing and it’s too easy to get distracted,” she said.
And also, know this, something I found out a few years ago while writing a column, something I also witnessed once first-hand: Someone drowning does not look like the movies make it out to be.
“Drowning is silent,” Simms said. “It’s not what you think. There’s no flailing, no screaming, and often kids — especially little ones — aren’t aware of what’s really happening. And it can happen in an instant.”
OK. So there it is. Keep a very close eye on your kids when they’re in the pool. Be bananas.