Most kids love a real answer when they ask, “Why?” So when your kids ask, “Why do we need to wear life jackets and learn how to swim?” the answer is in the numbers supplied by the U.S. Coast Guard: Where cause of death was known, 76 percent of fatal boating accident victims drowned; of those with reported life jacket usage, 84.5 percent of those who died were not wearing a life jacket.
Free swim at a day camp or attending pool parties doesn’t create a skillful swimmer. Competent swimmers are created after completing swim lessons to Red Cross standards taught by certified instructors
And life jackets are meant to keep kids (and adults) safer when the unexpected happens, so that’s why they should be worn all the time and everywhere but in the cabin.
When welcoming newbies on the boat, practice “man overboard” situations. Kids (and adults) should practice being the one in the water (yell loudly and often to be spotted) and the person on watch (remain calm while informing the skipper about the person overboard).
Besides knowing how to swim, wearing a life jacket, and acting quickly in an emergency, here’s six additional rules to go over before kids and adults swim off the boat:
- Don’t go for a swim without telling someone on the boat — make sure the person agrees to keep an eye on you.
- Never swim alone; look out for each other.
- Don’t dive into shallow water and never dive headfirst.
- If the water turns discolored, choppy, or foamy, return to the boat. The same applies if you spot jellyfish.
- Don’t swim under the back deck or near the swim platform when an engine or generator is running and never go near a propeller.
- If a rip current catches you, swim parallel to the boat. Once free of the current, swim diagonally back to the boat.
