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Drowning is one of the depressingly common ways that young people die that somehow never gets discussed. Drowning is the leading cause of death for Americans ag

Drowning is one of the depressingly common ways that young people die that somehow never gets discussed. Drowning is the leading cause of death for Americans age 1-4, and the second leading cause (after cars) for ages 5-9 and 10-14, being displaced by "accidental poisoning" (nearly 100% of which is opiate overdose) by age 15 [1]. Younger children are more likely to drown in pools; older children are more likely to drown in natural bodies of water. By age 35, the bathtub becomes the second-most common location to drown (again, probably drugs). [1] https://wisqars.cdc.gov/lcd/ https://wisqars.cdc.gov/lcd/

freddie_mercury 3y ago
I see it get discussed all the time. Where & how do you think it should be discussed that it isn't currently being discussed? Here's are some NYTimes articles about it that are all pretty recent, for example. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/08/health/children-drowning-deaths.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/08/health/children-drowning-... https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/well/family/kids-drowning-prevention-tips.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/well/family/kids-drowning... https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/parenting/drowning-water-safety.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/parenting/drowning-water-... https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/well/family/drowning-children-water-safety.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/well/family/drowning-chil... https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/opinion/drowning-public-pools-america.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/opinion/drowning-public-p...
- giantg2 3y ago
  It's not that it doesn't get discussed. It's just the way the biases work. People don't recognize the dangers because they're used to it. They place a bigger worry on other dangers that they aren't as familiar with or feels more scary. Most people don't even think about the dangers from pools or car accidents, or overestimate how safe it is despite their lack of knowledge. Many parents put their kid in a car seat but fail to secure the child or seat according to the instructions (usually straps too loose or in the wrong location). Or they think that just because they are sitting near the pool passively watching that they could save them if something does happen despite the fact they have no training. Yet the same people will talk and worry relentlessly about a school shooting despite the stats showing that schools are one of the least likely places that children are to be shot (more likely at a private residence or in the general public, more likely in a one-off event than a mass shooting), but don't bother discussing if there are firearms in the house and if they're locked up. It all comes down to bias.
- tstrimple 3y ago
  In addition, just about any municipal code for securing access to private pools demonstrates this is a well known problem.
closewith 3y ago
Is that true in the States? I'm a marine SAR volunteer in Ireland and we go into every school every year to teach about water safety (https://rnli.org/safety/float https://rnli.org/safety/float). It's also frequently in the news, for example ahead of last year's All-Ireland semi-finals (https://afloat.ie/safety/lifeboats/item/59684-rnli-lifeboat-volunteers-take-to-the-pitch-at-croke-park-to-highlight-water-safety https://afloat.ie/safety/lifeboats/item/59684-rnli-lifeboat-...). Island nation and all, but still. The greatest risk of children to children here is in fresh water.
sethammons 3y ago
Swim lessons were mandatory (though nearly everyone knew how to swim beforehand) at my school in California (8th grade) and were mandatory at my son's school in Montana (he started there in 6th grade - but I believe younger grades were included).

freddie_mercury 3y ago

I see it get discussed all the time. Where & how do you think it should be discussed that it isn't currently being discussed? Here's are some NYTimes articles about it that are all pretty recent, for example. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/08/health/children-drowning-deaths.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/08/health/children-drowning-... https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/well/family/kids-drowning-prevention-tips.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/well/family/kids-drowning... https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/parenting/drowning-water-safety.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/parenting/drowning-water-... https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/well/family/drowning-children-water-safety.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/well/family/drowning-chil... https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/opinion/drowning-public-pools-america.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/opinion/drowning-public-p...

giantg2 3y ago
It's not that it doesn't get discussed. It's just the way the biases work. People don't recognize the dangers because they're used to it. They place a bigger worry on other dangers that they aren't as familiar with or feels more scary. Most people don't even think about the dangers from pools or car accidents, or overestimate how safe it is despite their lack of knowledge. Many parents put their kid in a car seat but fail to secure the child or seat according to the instructions (usually straps too loose or in the wrong location). Or they think that just because they are sitting near the pool passively watching that they could save them if something does happen despite the fact they have no training. Yet the same people will talk and worry relentlessly about a school shooting despite the stats showing that schools are one of the least likely places that children are to be shot (more likely at a private residence or in the general public, more likely in a one-off event than a mass shooting), but don't bother discussing if there are firearms in the house and if they're locked up. It all comes down to bias.
tstrimple 3y ago
In addition, just about any municipal code for securing access to private pools demonstrates this is a well known problem.

closewith 3y ago

Is that true in the States? I'm a marine SAR volunteer in Ireland and we go into every school every year to teach about water safety (https://rnli.org/safety/float https://rnli.org/safety/float). It's also frequently in the news, for example ahead of last year's All-Ireland semi-finals (https://afloat.ie/safety/lifeboats/item/59684-rnli-lifeboat-volunteers-take-to-the-pitch-at-croke-park-to-highlight-water-safety https://afloat.ie/safety/lifeboats/item/59684-rnli-lifeboat-...). Island nation and all, but still. The greatest risk of children to children here is in fresh water.

sethammons 3y ago

Swim lessons were mandatory (though nearly everyone knew how to swim beforehand) at my school in California (8th grade) and were mandatory at my son's school in Montana (he started there in 6th grade - but I believe younger grades were included).