Swim class in VA schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m fine with it being taught in elementary school, but it’s ridiculous to have it in high school. Adolescents having to get completely naked to change into bathing suits, change back into regular clothes and walk around all day with their hair wet? Not to mention being forced to wear bathing suits that shows their bodies and ways they may not want to or feel comfortable too.

Teaching water safety to kids who might not otherwise go to a pool can save lives. And since every HS in Arlington has a pool, it makes sense for the HS students to use the on campus resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m fine with it being taught in elementary school, but it’s ridiculous to have it in high school. Adolescents having to get completely naked to change into bathing suits, change back into regular clothes and walk around all day with their hair wet? Not to mention being forced to wear bathing suits that shows their bodies and ways they may not want to or feel comfortable too.

Teaching water safety to kids who might not otherwise go to a pool can save lives. And since every HS in Arlington has a pool, it makes sense for the HS students to use the on campus resources.

It should be optional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's such a waste of instructional time. They should cut it, and it would save a lot of money too.

It’s not swimming lessons like freestyle and backstroke. It’s water safety- like floating, treading water, survival stroke, what to do if someone falls in and is hurt or can’t swim. A lot of families don’t have access to a pool or swim lessons and water safety is important. It’s like 2 days in 3rd grade and 5 days in 4th grade. They leave in a bus right after morning meeting and return before lunch.

Arlington County has swim lessons and they definitely have scholarship money available for people who can’t afford it.

There are a lot of obstacles other than cost to signing up for classes outside of school. Signed, disabled mom who works full time.

I think water safety is about one of the most important things a school system can teach, and I'm not sure how this could possibly be controversial.

It’s controversial cuz it costs money and time. I would rather save library assistants.

[Anonymous]

What do other school systems do? Do they have elementary swimming?

[Anonymous]

I’m surprised the folks who care So Much about time in school are fine with all this time off for swimming in ES. It eats up half the school day. Very disruptive to teaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m fine with it being taught in elementary school, but it’s ridiculous to have it in high school. Adolescents having to get completely naked to change into bathing suits, change back into regular clothes and walk around all day with their hair wet? Not to mention being forced to wear bathing suits that shows their bodies and ways they may not want to or feel comfortable too.

Teaching water safety to kids who might not otherwise go to a pool can save lives. And since every HS in Arlington has a pool, it makes sense for the HS students to use the on campus resources.

It doesn’t make sense for elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do other school systems do? Do they have elementary swimming?

I lived in 5 states and this is the only place I've ever heard of swimming being taught by the schools. It certainly wasn't taught to me growing up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised the folks who care So Much about time in school are fine with all this time off for swimming in ES. It eats up half the school day. Very disruptive to teaching.

But it is only for a week. I would rather have a week of basic water safety training embedded in the curriculum than not have it at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do other school systems do? Do they have elementary swimming?

I lived in 5 states and this is the only place I've ever heard of swimming being taught by the schools. It certainly wasn't taught to me growing up.

Same. It's so weird that APS is funding swimming but cutting library. What happened to literacy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised the folks who care So Much about time in school are fine with all this time off for swimming in ES. It eats up half the school day. Very disruptive to teaching.

But it is only for a week. I would rather have a week of basic water safety training embedded in the curriculum than not have it at all.

It's at the expense of other things. Like library assistants who check out books so kids can read. I thought reading was fundamental? Guess not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised the folks who care So Much about time in school are fine with all this time off for swimming in ES. It eats up half the school day. Very disruptive to teaching.

But it is only for a week. I would rather have a week of basic water safety training embedded in the curriculum than not have it at all.

Only for a week? That's a whole week of instruction. And it doesn't just happen for one week. I think it's in two different grades in ES. And then again in HS.

[Anonymous]

I think it's a critical skill and I'm glad APS teaches it. My kids know how to swim but every year they've had classmates who don't. It's one week for a couple hours/day in 3rd and 4th grade. They waste more time on assemblies and other stuff that has no impact on safety. I'd rather they go swimming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe there is debate about this.

Um you are on this site, what did you expect?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m fine with it being taught in elementary school, but it’s ridiculous to have it in high school. Adolescents having to get completely naked to change into bathing suits, change back into regular clothes and walk around all day with their hair wet? Not to mention being forced to wear bathing suits that shows their bodies and ways they may not want to or feel comfortable too.

Teaching water safety to kids who might not otherwise go to a pool can save lives. And since every HS in Arlington has a pool, it makes sense for the HS students to use the on campus resources.

It doesn’t make sense for elementary.

That’s where it makes the MOST sense, if not in preK. Kids are at their shortest and their most impulsive. This is all borne out in the numbers. And don’t just look at deaths - kids survive drowning all the time only to spend the rest of their lives permanently brain damaged. Water is no joke.

[Anonymous]

APS spends 2.95 million on aquatics. Almost three million! That's a huge amount of money that we could spend on other things, like lowering class sizes and keeping library assistants.