by Aaron Morgan

Created on: July 03, 2008   Last Updated: January 03, 2009

Why should children learn to swim when they are young?

Attending daily water aerobics classes at the local YMCA, it truly amazes me how many of the adults in those classes are frightened of the deep water. When the instructor directs over to the deep end, many of them stay in the shallow area. But, I have to give these people some credit, at least they get in the water, there are other adults I know who would never even enter a swimming pool, lake, or any other body of water due to an overwhelming fear.

Not being able to swim or having a fear of the water seems so strange to me since my parents had me in the water when I was only a few months old and I've loved the water and swimming ever since. I cherish every moment that I get to go to the pool for a swim. However, I like everyone else, has fears, and I can only guess that how I feel when I have to face my fears is how these people feel when they are near water and I can sympathize with them.

I believe that it is very, very important to teach children how to swim when they are young. Young children are basically fearless; they are used to an adult watching out for them and generally believe that if an adult does something or introduces them to something that whatever it is, is ok, something worth learning. Children have an innate desire to please. If their going in the water and swimming will please an adult, they are going to do their best to learn how to do it.

Young children absorb everything they are exposed to, they have an ability to learn that is unmatched by those older than them. For example, teaching a second language to a 5 or 6 year old is much easier than teaching one to a 16 or 17 year old. Swimming is no different, if children are taught by a caring adult, it won't take them long to catch on; they'll catch on faster than a teenager or an adult.

Another factor to consider is the fact that adults have been exposed to a great deal of information in their lifetime including incidents where people have drowned or have been seriously injured while swimming. All of this information, intentionally or not, interferes with them learning something new by creating fear. Children, on the other hand, do not have as much of this information, therefore overall, they generally have less fear to get in the way of learning a new skill.

Swimming is an important skill to possess. It is possible that someday the ability to swim could save a person. You never know what could happen in your lifetime as unexpected things are not a rare occurence. Being able to swim could someday save your life.

To summarize, I beleive that is it very important to teach children to swim at a young age. Young children learn faster and are more fearless than adults, giving them an advantage. Even if you don't swim your self, finding a way for your children to learn could really help them someday, maybe even save their life, you never know.

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