Summer is well underway now, meaning it’s time for plenty of families and young children to head to their local beach or pool for some fun in the sun and a dip in the water. However, not everyone is able to fully enjoy a good swim in the summertime; a large percentage of American children, particularly within minority communities, don’t know how to swim. While a lack of swimming knowledge might not seem like a serious issue at first, it can potentially put your child in future danger. Here are just a few reasons why you should have your child learn to swim as soon as possible.
Emergency Prevention
Possibly the most important reason to learn to swim early on in life is as a means of emergency prevention. While not everyone lives near a large body of water, you never know when you or your child will end up near the lake or near a pool at some point in their lives. Falling into the water without knowing how to swim is incredibly dangerous, particularly for children. Drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury death for children and sixth for people of all ages. Even if you don’t plan on swimming regularly or having your child get into the water often, having this skill is incredibly important to avoid potentially dangerous accidents.
Learning Early Means Better Retention
Anyone who has attempted to start a new hobby later on in life will know that the earlier you start learning a new skill, the easier it is to retain. This is just one reason why learning to swim tends to be easier at younger ages, leading to baby swim classes and even infant swim lessons. While infancy might seem too early to teach your child to swim, it can help them retain the skill more easily and keep them ready in case something happens. Most of these infant classes don’t consist of swimming as many people think of it – usually, it tackles the basics of floating on your back and holding breath.
Swimming For Exercise And Enjoyment
Regardless of where you and your child live now, there’s a chance that they’ll eventually end up living near water or a pool later on. While it’s possible to learn to swim later on, starting earlier makes it more likely that they’ll find the joy of swimming and regularly use it as a means of exercise or entertainment. This opens up a variety of opportunities throughout their life that they may not have otherwise had.
Learning to swim can help keep your child safe throughout their life. For more information or to help your child learn to swim today, contact the American Swim Academy.