How to Teach Water Safety to Kids
Teaching kids water safety is extremely important and will prevent accidents and drownings. Your children are the first defense you can use to prevent water incidents. Luckily, there are many ways you can teach your children water safety.
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Instructions
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Talk to your children. This is going to be your primary device in teaching kids water safety. Discuss with them what they can and can't do in the water. Teach them to always swim with a buddy, to know where an adult is and what to do in the event of an emergency.
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Set rules with your children. Let them know what you expect from them and give consequences and punishments if they don't obey. If they break a rule, make them get out of the water, or ground them from the pool for a period of time. While you may feel like you're being mean during the short summer months, you're not. You're protecting them and teaching them water safety.
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Enroll your child in swim lessons. After three years of age, children can start putting their faces into the water and learning how to swim. See your local parks and recreation department to see if they offer any swim lessons. Remember, while having a child take swimming lessons is no guarantee of water safety, it does give children a leg up, making them more water safe.
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Teach children to obey the rules of water fun parks, beaches and other bodies of water. They should also listen to a lifeguard, adult, parent or other water safety personnel, no matter what.
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Put your children in a Coast Guard-approved personal floatation device(PFD) if they are young or inexperienced swimmers. Your children will probably not like them, which is a great way encourage your kids to take swimming lessons.
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Explore with your local parks and recreation department to see if they offer a water safety class. Many local groups are now offering classes to teach children how to behave around bodies of water and what to do if an emergency occurs.
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