The news of yet another child drowning in a backyard pool is always disturbing. It should never have happened, it is a sensless and tragic waste of life.
What infuriates me when I read such items is the complete and utter abrogation of any responsibility by the parents. Read the story from link above and you will see that grieving parents and other activists are always looking for someone to blame. It's either the government or local authorities or lack of regulations that are to blame. Never do grieving parents consider that they themselves might be responsible for the welfare of their child. Why not? A two year old roaming around the house unsupervised is very likely to cause mischief and injure themselves. The hazards are too many to mention. Do we blame the government if a child starts a fire by playing with matches they found lying around the home? Do we blame the government if a child is scolded with boiling liquid in the kitchen? Do we blame the government if a child trips and falls over? Do we blame the government if a child attempts to climb a tree and falls down? Would we require fences around trees if there was an incidence of children climbing trees and falling to their deaths?
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=4f39e982-ed5d-41ee-b208-01a7c0880fca)
5 comments:
I had to stop and think for a sec, "Oh, yeah, it's summer down there" as I'm freezing my ass off, along with most of the rest of N. America right now.
'Tis very sad when a child dies, especially by something as easily preventable as accidental drowning in a private, unsupervised pool. It's silly enough here that any new pool being built needs a locking fence around it (I think now 6 ft. tall), since folks can't watch their own property 24/7, and it hasn't sunk in to others to stay out if it's not theirs.
We spent our summers at the cottage growing up. The cottage was about 15 feet from the water. There were numerous cottages around the lake. Some of them had very steep drop-offs so that a child falling from the bank would be over it's head pretty much immediately. No one ever drowned. We fell in all the time but I don't recall ever being left entirely alone. The buddy system was the rule for all kids. We had to learn to swim early - even at 3 I knew how to hold my breath and swim under water. By the time I was five I could take the canoe out by myself. Wearing a life jacket of course.
Fences around pools are to keep people from accidentally stumbling into them. They can not stop someone determined to get to the pool. Period. Didn't the parents ever check on the kid? How long was the kid outside on her own?
I don't know where to begin.
I was once a lifeguard and still, I wouldn't put in a pool. It's pointless. It's too expensive, too much upkeep, and TOO DANGEROUS. (While I have young kids at home, that is.)
Just where are the parents or grown-ups when these things happen?
Aren't small children meant to be supervised at ALL times, and especially around water! Water has always attracted small kids, so why are they left alone?
These things happen far too often, and are far too easy passed off as "Accidents".
We have a backyard pool. When our granddaughter came over, I supervised her and taught her to swim. On one occasion, before she learn't how to swim, she fell in the pool and sunk like a lead balloon. It was silent(no struggle) and it was incredibly quick. I was standing next to her and pulled her out immediately. Maybe all parents need to see something like this to realize that if they aren't there, at the very minute the child fall into the pool, then there is no hope for the child.
Post a Comment