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We now have a pool and curious at other parents rules. I am comfortable with my 12 year old and a friend swimming while I am home (and not right at the pool). However tonight she has a friend over they wanto go swimming. I am headed out shortly, so I said no since there isn't an adult home. My almost 14 year old son is.
So what are your rules?
We had an in-ground pool from the time my children were 5-7 through 14-16 when we sold the house.
It had a deep end and a diving board.
My children learned to swim at summer camp and were swimmers. However, I never left the pool when they were that age. (5-10) I never let them in the pool when I was not out side.
With younger children, under 10, I'd invite the parents to come over. I did not want to take responsibility. I also, depending on the situation, sometimes did not let them in the deep end.
When they were older I went in and out of the house. But I never, ever left the house even when they were tweens or early teens. My children were not permitted in the pool if one of us were not at home.
No one should ever swim alone. A seizure, and accident, no one is immune from drowning in a pool.
That being said, I wouldn't worry too much about 2 teens, as long as they can keep an eye on each other. I would be sure they were trustworthy and not the type to horse around. I would also have them take a CPR class.
^^^^This. Someone not knowledgeable of rescue procedures is more calming the parents than reducing the risk to the kids. Doesn't matter if you're 12 or 40. If you can't rescue you can't rescue.
No swimming alone, ever. Where I live there are many private pools, many community pools, and the ocean. Every so often an adult swimming alone drowns, and several children drown every year when they are unsupervised. It's just never safe.
I would let my older children (15 and 12) swim in the community pool alone while lifeguards were on duty. Same with the beach. They never go out far and the lifeguards here are very good. If there is no lifeguard or it is a private pool, I want an adult watching.
When they were younger, I always personally watched, no exceptions. My son had a close call in a pool full of kids and a swimming instructor when he was 5. It was a good thing I was watching when he went down, because no one else was. He would have drowned. Thinking about it still scares me. I'm not a paranoid parent by any means, but water is one thing I don't think you can be too careful about.
No one goes in my pool unsupervised, regardless of age. If there is no adult who knows how to swim around to spot, then no one can go into the pool.
It's best to always have someone responsible watching. I'd rather be safe than sorry.
I know a woman who lost two sons, who were excellent swimmers, to pool accidents. She almost lost a third one, too. One was in the pool by himself and drowned when he got pulled into the suction at the bottom of the pool and got stuck. Another slipped on the diving board and hit his head on it. He fell into the pool and was unable to recover from the shock of the blow to his head.
The third one almost drowned at day camp in a pool full of counselors and other children. None of them realized he was in distress; they thought he was splashing and playing around. He's been at the camp for weeks and everyone knew him to be a great swimmer. If it weren't for an 8-year-old fellow camper who saw that something was wrong, pulled him unconscious out of the water, and started screaming, he would have died too. He had to be taken to the ER. When asked what happened to him, he said that he had no idea; one minute he was fine, and the next minute he was "waking up." These things happen so fast.
I will not let my children go swimming unless I or their father is supervising.
No one goes in my pool unsupervised, regardless of age. If there is no adult who knows how to swim around to spot, then no one can go into the pool.
It's best to always have someone responsible watching. I'd rather be safe than sorry.
I know a woman who lost two sons, who were excellent swimmers, to pool accidents. She almost lost a third one, too. One was in the pool by himself and drowned when he got pulled into the suction at the bottom of the pool and got stuck. Another slipped on the diving board and hit his head on it. He fell into the pool and was unable to recover from the shock of the blow to his head.
The third one almost drowned at day camp in a pool full of counselors and other children. None of them realized he was in distress; they thought he was splashing and playing around. He's been at the camp for weeks and everyone knew him to be a great swimmer. If it weren't for a 8-year-old fellow camper who saw that something was wrong, pulled him unconscious out of the water, and started screaming he would have died too. He had to be taken to the ER. When asked what happened to him, he said that he had no idea; one minute he was fine, and the next minute he was "waking up." These things happen so fast.
I actually wont swim if there is no one around. They don't have to be watching but aware I am in there. I feel the same about the teens, but I ok with it if they are in a group...then again, my teens showed very good judgement in the pool.
We are moving in a couple months and I will be so glad not to have a swimming pool again. We had a dog die in it (she knew how to swim and get out but she was very, very old). Its such a hazard.
We never had a pool, but my friend's mom would go out and watch us swim at all ages. I don't remember her ever stopping until we were adults.
same. I watched them until their late teens. and both kids swam like fish and one was red cross certified lifeguard. I did pop into the kitchen to bring out drinks but when I left the pool area they had to come out of the pool until I returned.
and I would never leave the house if a friend came over.
We are moving in a couple months and I will be so glad not to have a swimming pool again. We had a dog die in it (she knew how to swim and get out but she was very, very old). Its such a hazard.
Oh I am so sorry, same thing happened to us when I was a kid.
I'm not a parent, but I'm thinking along the lines of someone who has often babysat other people's kids. OMG no, never if no adults are home. Not at any age.
When my childhood friends and I were teenagers... let's just say it was really good that one of our friends was a trained junior EMT.
No one should swim alone, never. Don't ever trust that a kid or adult knows how to swim when they jump into the deep end of a pool or walk in over their head in a lake. Some of them have seldom, if ever, been in water to know what swimming is all about. They watch and think it's easy.
We were at my brother's house when our son was 4. He jumped off the diving board into the deep end of the pool beside my brother. I was watching like a hawk and yelled at my brother to grab him, which he did. My son just automatically thought he could swim or that someone would help him. If I hadn't been watching, he'd have gone down. It only takes a second of not watching.
We took our son out to a lake later that summer and asked him to swim the four feet between us. He started out and went down. He came up with huge eyes and we let him flounder for 5 more seconds before we grabbed him and explained to him how easy it is to drown without mom and dad nearby. Lesson learned. He never let go again in deep water until we taught him how to swim (in shallow water) and now as an adult he swims like a fish.
My 4 year old cousin went under at a big family party when I was a kid. Maybe 10 adults, 10 teenagers and 10 kids we in and around the pool. I was young and looked into the deepend and saw bobby and the bottom of the pool...just hanging out. Next thing I knew my uncle jumped in fully clothed and pulled him out. He was breathing but coughing and sputtering a lot. Back then the adults let us swim alone all the time if we could swim. That did impress upon me that a drowning child might not look like anything is wrong. He seriously looked loke he was hanging out at the bottom of the pool.
That is another issue...if there are lots of adults they assume others will look out for the kids. My other relatives were having fun talking and horse playing, drinking or cooking. He was the youngest kid.
I went under as a toddler. My parent was swimming in the deepend with my older sibling and I was on the steps. When they turned around I was gone. Apparently I was just underwater, no fuss or jaws scene splashing. Just slipped under.
It's scary stuff.
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