I finished my first week of swim lessons and again I have decided that floaties are the Devil and whoever created them should be severely punished.
Case in point. I have at least 3 kids that know how to swim, but because they have been using floaties, freak out in the water. It is so frustrating as a teacher to try and reverse the effects of floaties. For those of you who think floaties are great, let me educate you as to why I hate them. First they create a false sense of security for a child in the water. They develop their self awareness in the water with floaties and as soon as you take them off, they have no idea how to function in the water. And what's gonna happen when (in Arizona you might as well plan on it) they accidentally fall in the pool? Instantly freak out. Second a child becomes mentally attached to them. They think they cannot ( or even worse, parents tell them they cannot) swim with out them. Third, they teach kids to swim vertically instead of horizontally. Who do you know that successfully swims vertically for long periods of time, besides synchronized swimmers who can tread water indefinitely?
So this is my plea to you- DO NOT EVER PUT YOUR KIDS IN FLOATIES! Or a life jacket or any type of floatation device. Be a loving and responsible enough parent to get in the water with your child. And put your child in swim lessons. There are more than enough resources out there for you.
Ok. I'll get off my soap box now.
6 comments:
AMEN SISTER! And I love your new blog look!
That's good info to know. I really had to idea. Good advice!
Jen, you're so wise in the ways of swimming : ) Thanks for the heads up. I have never used floaties for Douglas and thanks to this little tid - bit of knowledge, I won't use them for Josh either.
Douglas LOVES coming to your class. He seriously looks forward to it. He is SO HAPPY you're his swim teacher : )
That's such good advice! I've never been one to consider using floaties for Nolan but I never would have thought that there were negative effects from them. Thanks for the informing us!
Good Soap box!!! That was a great topic!!
So it's probably wrong I'm 29 and I want floaties still? I'm totally a product of this. Glad your going to teach me to swim.
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