Happy Water Safety Month! We know that our families love swimming and splashing about all summer long, so we are excited to share a guest post from the British Swim School of Boston! Don’t forget to practice your Spanish Vocab in the water and remember these safety tips from our friends at the British Swim School!
Swim……..nadar
Water…….agua
Pool…..piscina
Beach…….playa
Ocean…….océano
Hello from British Swim School of Boston!
We are excited to get the opportunity to talk to you about water safety and what you can do to keep yourself, your child, and those you care about safe in and around the water. We are going to discuss a few different topics, water watching, bath tub and pool safety, life jackets, and the importance of training.
Water Watchers:
A family beach day is lots of fun, but when the kids are in the water, who is watching them? Most adult’s answer would likely be, ‘we all are!’ The problem with this answer is that if everyone is watching then no one is.
What does this mean?
The human brain can’t really multitask, so if you are conversing with another family member, checking your phone, or monitoring the BBQ, you aren’t able to also be constantly watching the water. The solution to this is to have a water watcher. Assign one adult to be responsible for supervising the children in and around the water. This person should not be doing anything else other than focusing on watching. No texting, drinking, reading, talking, etc. They should also have a working cell phone that can quickly be used to call 911 if needed.
It’s highly recommended that you take shifts with other adults in the group. Working in half hour shifts allows everyone to get time to socialize when they are not on duty, but it also helps to prevent fatigue. It is highly recommended that you also have a flotation device you could throw into someone in distress and trained in CPR.
For more information on the Red Cross’s Water Watcher program or to print out your own water watcher badge, click here.