Swim project aims to save lives
Geared to Grade 3 students from immigrant areas York safety pilot was sparked by Star investigation
York is launching the first regionally co-ordinated swimming safety program for elementary students today and Queen’s Park is watching.
“ York Region will give us some pointers,” said Education Minister Gerard Kennedy, who wants swimming safety for all Grade 3 students to be part of Ontario’s healthy schools initiative.
“ It’s a great area to look at because they have a wide range of schools, large and small, old and new. And because they are a fast- growing area, they replicate some areas that don’t have a ton of ( pool) facilities yet.” York Region’s $49,000 pilot project, sparked by a Toronto Star investigation last summer, is being launched today at Richmond Hill’s Centennial Pool and will be offered to schools in areas where immigration is high and incomes are limited. The Star reported in July that drownings are on the rise in Ontario and that the increase may be due to the province’s growing number of immigrants from countries where swimming isn’t part of the culture. The story highlighted the need for swimming survival skills to be taught in all Canadian elementary schools. Over the next four months, about 2,450 children in 54 schools — about 23 per cent of Grade 3 students in York — will participate in the Swim to Survive program, developed by the Lifesaving Society to reduce children’s drownings.
York’s nine municipal recreation departments are offering the pool time, the region is covering the cost of busing and instruction, and the public and Catholic school boards are making time in the curriculum for the program. The Lifesaving Society is training swimming instructors, and providing classroom support and student booklets.
“ We are really excited about this,” said Barbara Byers of the Lifesaving Society, which certifies all lifeguards in the country and analyzes drownings to promote safety.
“ Our goal is for every Grade 3 child in the country to learn the Swim to Survive skills. York is the first region to really pick up on it and implement it in a comprehensive way,” she said. The society says the three- lesson, three- skill program is the minimum safety standard all children should achieve.
It includes teaching children
to somersault into deep water to simulate the sensation of falling into water unexpectedly; tread water for one minute to allow them to catch their breath and look for help; and swim 50 metres — about two lengths of a swimming pool — using any stroke or combination of strokes. With immigrants making up 39 per cent of York’s population, community services commissioner Joann Simmons felt she had to act. She wrote a report last August recommending York use money from a social services reserve fund to pay for the program, and it was adopted by regional council and York’s nine municipalities. Both school boards also embraced it.
“ This has been a real joint effort — a real collaboration among all of us,” said Howie Dayton of the community services department, who is co- ordinating the pilot project.
In June, the City of Mississauga and the Peel District School Board introduced the Swim to Survive pilot program in lowincome neighbourhoods.
Kirkland Lake began offering it to all Grade 3 students this fall. Hamilton, Kitchener and Cambridge are developing programs to reach all schools, while Kingston and Ottawa are hoping to offer it on a limited basis.
In Toronto, where there are pools in about 80 public schools, a joint city- school board committee is discussing ways to incorporate universal school swimming lessons into the city’s larger aquatics policy. The committee is expected to report to city council in February, said Councillor Janet Davis ( Ward 31, Beaches- East York), who heads the group. A pilot program to test the number of classes, instructors and swimming skills needed to teach kids how to survive in water may be launched next spring, she said.