4 ms·

So many of them don't have arm bands? It's borderline criminal to allow untrained kids in a pool without wearing those.

chrismeller 7y ago
Admittedly it’s been a while since I’ve been to a public pool, and only ever in the US, but there was never any such requirement. I mean even if they did ask “can you swim?” that doesn’t really mean much, it’s not like there’s an official certification process... and either way, doesn’t mean they can’t still drown, so the lesson is relevant anyway.
- undineine 7y ago
  European pools generally ask under children under 14 or so who go swimming unattended whether they have swimming diplomas. If you complete your swimming diplomas, you get stickers for your swim shorts to show you have completed them. Generally certain rides in water parks, like fast slides or streams will require you to have higher levels of swimming training to go on if you're under 14.
  - watwut 7y ago
    I live in Europe and never seen this.
    - Hamuko 7y ago
      I live in Europe and while we did have some kind of stickers for attending swimming school, I don't think those were something that you'd actual have on you.
      - trissi 7y ago
        For me and my buddys in school it was quite a thing of "pride" to have the better diploma's (there was a beginner one + bronze to gold) (this was around 2004)
  - mcv 7y ago
    The sticker or badge on your swimming trunks is something really archaic. I had one in the early 1980s, but I haven't seen them since.
    - rndgermandude 7y ago
      I had such stickers on my trunks into the mid 90s.
    - trissi 7y ago
      I had one around 2004 (got it as part of swimming lessons in a german elementary school)
  - rndgermandude 7y ago
    I remember I was asked a bunch of times if I had my "free swimmer" (Freischwimmer, Bronze)[1] by lifeguards when I was pre-teen in Germany, indeed. Tho, that wasn't something they did every time, more like spot checks. My parents were wise enough to enroll me in a course so I got my "early swimmer" (seahorse, Seepferdchen) training by age 6; that doesn't make you into a good swimmer yet, but at least you know the basics. Then elementary school took over and I got up to the gold diploma by age 10. By age 8 or so I already was a far better swimmer than my parents, who never had any formal training. I remember my mom once refusing to take one of my friends with us swimming when I was like 8 or 9 because he didn't have any swimming diplomas yet (he had only come to Germany from Tunisia like a year prior and was in the process of catching up with swimming ed). I remember I was mad at the time, but in hindsight it was absolutely the right decision. Still, we all knew stories of kids relatively close to us drowning; for me it was the little brother of a friend of my sisters who drowned when he went to a water park as part of a kids birthday. The "usual" had happened: the two parents of the birthday kid being too overwhelmed by 10 or so loud kids amped up on candy and not trained lifeguards anyway, not enough lifeguards, wave pool... the adults didn't even notice they had lost track of this one kid until they saw the lifeguard pulling him out of the water, too late, or so the story went. [1] https://www.dlrg.de/informieren/ausbildung/schwimmabzeichen https://www.dlrg.de/informieren/ausbildung/schwimmabzeichen [German]
    - brndr 7y ago
      Swimming education in Germany is highly standardized. The "Bundesverband zur Förderung der Schwimmausbildung" (federal association in furtherance of swimming education) consists of different lifesaving and sports organizations and has recently published new examination regulations which highered the standards for swimming badges. All swimmming instructors in those organizations will tell you that you should permanently keep an eye on your kids and don't let them go to the pool alone until they complete the bronze badge which requires you to swim for fifteen minutes, dive down to two meters and jump into the water. Only after you complete this test you are considered a "safe swimmer".
- bluGill 7y ago
  In every public pool I've been in the US they had a "shallow end" and "deep end". In the shallow water kids could easily touch the bottom and didn't need to know how to swim. The lifeguard between the shallow and deep end wouldn't let you in if you couldn't prove you could swim. It was always cross the line and the lifeguard would yell at your to swim across the pool (different pools had different tests), if you weren't strong enough you got sent back to the shallow end. If there wasn't a lifeguard the above obviously didn't apply.
panadan 7y ago
Despite their popularity, swimming experts advise against using inflatable armbands. Although they can help a child to float, they can slip off and lead to drowning. Inflatable armbands do not prevent drowning, nor are they a life-saving device. Mistaking them for one can create a dangerous false sense of security. Additionally, inflatable armbands teach children to float in a vertical position, which is incorrect because swimming is usually done in a prone position. Children who wear armbands can become dependent on them, as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflatable_armbands https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflatable_armbands
- cafebabbe 7y ago
  I never said it was a perfect security measure - but it does help a lot.
- mcv 7y ago
  They're a temporary measure; they make sure that a child that goes under, quickly comes up again. But a parent still needs to be nearby and paying attention. Never let a child without swimming diploma swim without nearby supervision. (This should be blindingly obvious.) Of course once they start swimming lessons, they practice without armbands.
jasode 7y ago
A lot of people don't recommend children wear any armbands/floaties/waterwings: https://www.google.com/search?q=children+armbands+pool+dangerous https://www.google.com/search?q=children+armbands+pool+dange... In other words, if the small child supposedly needs armbands, they shouldn't be in the pool at all because the inflatables can easily slip off the arms.
- mcv 7y ago
  They can be in the pool, but the parent needs to be in the pool with them. There's no substitute for direct adult supervision, or swimming lessons, of course.
  - ben7799 7y ago
    If you're in the pool with them they don't need armbands. Armbands are dangerous and hinder learning.
    - mcv 7y ago
      I'm not advocating armbands during swimming lessons; there's a good reason they don't use them there. But when just playing around, they are incredibly useful, and keep the kid's head above water.
      - OkayPhysicist 7y ago
        As a lifeguard, I'm going to have to disagree with you. Arm-floats are blatantly dangerous, and should never be used. If they don't fit exactly the way the manufacturer planned, they run the risk of pinning a kid's face in the water, and even under ideal conditions provide minimal safety while providing a false perception of safety. The only buoancy aids that should ever be worn are Coast Guard approved PFDs. Anything else does more harm than good.
vegardx 7y ago
Wet suits and life jackets are much better options for kids than arm bands. Heck, in many places arm bands are banned completely. I think cost is one of the few reason why arm bands are still used, and perhaps that they are marginally better than not having any in some cases. You can get a great used wet suits for next to nothing, and in many cases the swimming pools have life jacket loaners. A life jacket with safety straps (between legs) are super cheap, and they are adjustable for better fit. Snug fit means they're less in the way. And they're harder to remove.

Admittedly it’s been a while since I’ve been to a public pool, and only ever in the US, but there was never any such requirement. I mean even if they did ask “can you swim?” that doesn’t really mean much, it’s not like there’s an official certification process... and either way, doesn’t mean they can’t still drown, so the lesson is relevant anyway.

undineine 7y ago
European pools generally ask under children under 14 or so who go swimming unattended whether they have swimming diplomas. If you complete your swimming diplomas, you get stickers for your swim shorts to show you have completed them. Generally certain rides in water parks, like fast slides or streams will require you to have higher levels of swimming training to go on if you're under 14.
- watwut 7y ago
  I live in Europe and never seen this.
  - Hamuko 7y ago
    I live in Europe and while we did have some kind of stickers for attending swimming school, I don't think those were something that you'd actual have on you.
    - trissi 7y ago
      For me and my buddys in school it was quite a thing of "pride" to have the better diploma's (there was a beginner one + bronze to gold) (this was around 2004)
- mcv 7y ago
  The sticker or badge on your swimming trunks is something really archaic. I had one in the early 1980s, but I haven't seen them since.
  - rndgermandude 7y ago
    I had such stickers on my trunks into the mid 90s.
  - trissi 7y ago
    I had one around 2004 (got it as part of swimming lessons in a german elementary school)
- rndgermandude 7y ago
  I remember I was asked a bunch of times if I had my "free swimmer" (Freischwimmer, Bronze)[1] by lifeguards when I was pre-teen in Germany, indeed. Tho, that wasn't something they did every time, more like spot checks. My parents were wise enough to enroll me in a course so I got my "early swimmer" (seahorse, Seepferdchen) training by age 6; that doesn't make you into a good swimmer yet, but at least you know the basics. Then elementary school took over and I got up to the gold diploma by age 10. By age 8 or so I already was a far better swimmer than my parents, who never had any formal training. I remember my mom once refusing to take one of my friends with us swimming when I was like 8 or 9 because he didn't have any swimming diplomas yet (he had only come to Germany from Tunisia like a year prior and was in the process of catching up with swimming ed). I remember I was mad at the time, but in hindsight it was absolutely the right decision. Still, we all knew stories of kids relatively close to us drowning; for me it was the little brother of a friend of my sisters who drowned when he went to a water park as part of a kids birthday. The "usual" had happened: the two parents of the birthday kid being too overwhelmed by 10 or so loud kids amped up on candy and not trained lifeguards anyway, not enough lifeguards, wave pool... the adults didn't even notice they had lost track of this one kid until they saw the lifeguard pulling him out of the water, too late, or so the story went. [1] https://www.dlrg.de/informieren/ausbildung/schwimmabzeichen https://www.dlrg.de/informieren/ausbildung/schwimmabzeichen [German]
  - brndr 7y ago
    Swimming education in Germany is highly standardized. The "Bundesverband zur Förderung der Schwimmausbildung" (federal association in furtherance of swimming education) consists of different lifesaving and sports organizations and has recently published new examination regulations which highered the standards for swimming badges. All swimmming instructors in those organizations will tell you that you should permanently keep an eye on your kids and don't let them go to the pool alone until they complete the bronze badge which requires you to swim for fifteen minutes, dive down to two meters and jump into the water. Only after you complete this test you are considered a "safe swimmer".
bluGill 7y ago
In every public pool I've been in the US they had a "shallow end" and "deep end". In the shallow water kids could easily touch the bottom and didn't need to know how to swim. The lifeguard between the shallow and deep end wouldn't let you in if you couldn't prove you could swim. It was always cross the line and the lifeguard would yell at your to swim across the pool (different pools had different tests), if you weren't strong enough you got sent back to the shallow end. If there wasn't a lifeguard the above obviously didn't apply.

panadan 7y ago

Despite their popularity, swimming experts advise against using inflatable armbands. Although they can help a child to float, they can slip off and lead to drowning. Inflatable armbands do not prevent drowning, nor are they a life-saving device. Mistaking them for one can create a dangerous false sense of security. Additionally, inflatable armbands teach children to float in a vertical position, which is incorrect because swimming is usually done in a prone position. Children who wear armbands can become dependent on them, as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflatable_armbands https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflatable_armbands

cafebabbe 7y ago
I never said it was a perfect security measure - but it does help a lot.
mcv 7y ago
They're a temporary measure; they make sure that a child that goes under, quickly comes up again. But a parent still needs to be nearby and paying attention. Never let a child without swimming diploma swim without nearby supervision. (This should be blindingly obvious.) Of course once they start swimming lessons, they practice without armbands.

jasode 7y ago

A lot of people don't recommend children wear any armbands/floaties/waterwings: https://www.google.com/search?q=children+armbands+pool+dangerous https://www.google.com/search?q=children+armbands+pool+dange... In other words, if the small child supposedly needs armbands, they shouldn't be in the pool at all because the inflatables can easily slip off the arms.

mcv 7y ago
They can be in the pool, but the parent needs to be in the pool with them. There's no substitute for direct adult supervision, or swimming lessons, of course.
- ben7799 7y ago
  If you're in the pool with them they don't need armbands. Armbands are dangerous and hinder learning.
  - mcv 7y ago
    I'm not advocating armbands during swimming lessons; there's a good reason they don't use them there. But when just playing around, they are incredibly useful, and keep the kid's head above water.
    - OkayPhysicist 7y ago
      As a lifeguard, I'm going to have to disagree with you. Arm-floats are blatantly dangerous, and should never be used. If they don't fit exactly the way the manufacturer planned, they run the risk of pinning a kid's face in the water, and even under ideal conditions provide minimal safety while providing a false perception of safety. The only buoancy aids that should ever be worn are Coast Guard approved PFDs. Anything else does more harm than good.

vegardx 7y ago

Wet suits and life jackets are much better options for kids than arm bands. Heck, in many places arm bands are banned completely. I think cost is one of the few reason why arm bands are still used, and perhaps that they are marginally better than not having any in some cases. You can get a great used wet suits for next to nothing, and in many cases the swimming pools have life jacket loaners. A life jacket with safety straps (between legs) are super cheap, and they are adjustable for better fit. Snug fit means they're less in the way. And they're harder to remove.