Children and Water Safety...

Not sure where to categorize this, so here goes.....


I think this is a timely issue, now that we are almost at the official start of summer. As a former competitive swimmer, children and water stafety is a hot button for me. I simply cannot fathom an excuse for a child to drown or nearly drown, either due to lack of skill; or supervision.

What are we doing to help our residents (and their families) deal with this:

tinyurl.com/kidsH2Osafety

Hi Johnny,
We have some great info at www.SafeInMyPlace.com from the Houston Fire Department and others that can be downloaded for apartment managers to use with renters. This week marks our big Houston Apartment Association/YMCA Water Safety press conference, so we'll be adding additional info in the coming days, too.

We know drownings are completely preventable - as evidenced by last year's list of drownings in Houston (absolutely none took place at apartment community pools). That's why we're reminding parents to always watch their children around the water.

Thanks for writing about this topic! It is an important one.

I agree safety should always be present everywhere
where there are kids. Parents should not worry if
their kids are safe in the waters or not.

I learned to swim before I could walk, so I cannot understand a child being unable to swim. In my opinion, if you have a child under 8 years old, swimming is a LIFE SKILL that must be mastered, if it has not already happened. Beyond that age, you are probably looking at someone who may want to learn the skills necessary to compete (usually interest increases around the time the Summer Olympics are held). My family jokes that I learned to swim because I HAD to when my dad threw me in the water....

Funny thing is that my dad's COACH (dad almost made the Olympic team in 64) couldn't even swim himself; but he coached MANY Olympic champions and World Record Holders, including Mark Spitz.

I was at a property that actually made the effort to reach out to the High School's swim coach and arranged for lessons taught by team members as a way to raise money for his program.

Water is very essential to our daily life.We have to conserve water cause sometimes there is having a water shortage.Without water,our life will become more difficult.

While conservation is an important topic; the discussion was asking how properties address water safety with children and pool use.