Another child drowned in Texas today; this makes 57. As I read through the comments on a new station Facebook post, I am horrified…. “it’s the so called parents fault they should have been watching him…” “Parents should have been watching. Their fault.” “I’m sorry but what aren’t these parents monitoring and focusing and paying attention to these kids???” “Parents not watching”…. These comments go on and on and on.
Drowning takes the lives of 3 children every day. 3. Drowning is fast, and drowning is silent. How many people have been called neglectful when their child sneaks away and gets into their mother’s make up, or draws on the wall, or spills cereal all over the floor? Well, hate to break it to you, but in the same amount of time it takes to do those things, you child could have drowned.
“Just watch your children”…. Right???? That will solve all the problems. But the actual problem lies deep inside our culture. We teach children the water is fun. It’s safe. We give them a false sense of security with floatation devices, like the puddle jumper. So, if they find the water on their own, why wouldn’t they want to jump in an have fun? 69% of children drown when they are not expected to be swimming.
Statistically, water is the most dangerous place on Earth for our children. It takes more lives than car accidents, firearms, falls, abuse, cancer…. You name it…. It is the leading cause of accidental death in children under 4. In Texas, it is the second leading cause of death in young children overall. The only thing beating it is birth defects. As Nicole Hughes has said, if your child dies before they reach kindergarten, the leading reason why is because they drowned.
Why are we not treating the water as the threat that it is???? Why are we so quick to blame the parents as being neglectful? Drownings can occur in as little as 30 seconds. And children are fast, they are mischievous, they are impulsive, and they live in an imaginary world where they can never get hurt. They do not understand consequences like we can.
I think the questions need to be…. Why are we not educating parents on how to prevent drownings from happening…? Why do we not have more laws regarding pool fences in Texas….? Why are we, as a society, showing kids the water is a fun and safe place before they can save themselves?
Today, this child was seen 4-5 minutes at an apartment complex before he was found floating face down in the apartment pool. We don’t quite know all the circumstances surrounding his death, but that doesn’t matter to the internet "know it alls". They automatically assume the parents neglected the child and that is why is drowned. But I am telling you, the issue is so much deeper than that.
Please, let’s not be quick to judge. Drowning does not discriminate. It can happen to you.