The bajillions of kids doing summer swim team would beg to differ...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Mine are 5 & 7, and can both dive and swim across the pool and granted I swam year round for 10 years but no one else I know with kids similar ages can do this yet. And pools are so shallow! Our country club does has a deep end with diving boards (as did mine in the 90s) but are kids just more wary of water now? I feel like it’s not only a safety thing knowing how to swim well…. But it’s also summer fun! You used to get teased if you couldn’t dive by the time you were 7 or 8.

I attribute this to just different parenting trends. My kids were swimming by 5 and 6. I think learning water safety is just lower priority but I also parents are more wary. I see this in other domains, too, like the prevalence of 3 wheel scooters. There's no need for 3 wheels. Kids can naturally balance on 2 wheel scooters as young as 4 and definitely at 5. But whether this matters at all in the long run... :shrug:

I see the opposite -- water safety is heavily emphasized and there is a big push for kids to learn to swim as early as possible. My kid was a competent swimmer by age 6 and was "late" among her friends. Not for lack of trying, she was just water averse at first and took longer to understand mechanics but once she figured it out she was fine.

My kid doesn't know how to dive because it's never been taught. I don't know how to dive into a pool either so I can't teach her. She's been in lessons since she was 3.

Anonymous wrote:Not everyone learns at the same pace. Neither do we all have access to the country club pool, or even a pool in general. Good swim lessons are expensive.
Typical post of clueless DCUM...

No. it was not clueless. People can draw generalizations at their local pool (country club, rec, or private) and see patterns over time. Whether those generalizations are applicable beyond those spaces can be subject to debate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not everyone learns at the same pace. Neither do we all have access to the country club pool, or even a pool in general. Good swim lessons are expensive.
Typical post of clueless DCUM...

Doesn’t everyone in DC have access to pools through DCPR?

People in VA, MD, and the other 48 states do not.

Anonymous wrote:Agreed! Especially because it’s so hot here in July & August. We have so many great free pools here in DC too, baffles me that kids aren’t as into it

DCUM has readers from many places outside DC, even outside Metro DC. Not everyone has access to free pools.

Kids also just tease each other a lot less than they did when we were kids. My kid would have been bullied a lot in the 90s, but it's not really been a problem now.

1. In general anxiety is up for the last half decade or longer, across the board, for everyone.
2. Not everyone enjoys swimming or water in the summer. I have always hated being in the sun. Never particularly enjoyed swimming pools. There were many other things I'd rather spend my free time doing, since I was little.

Anonymous wrote:Not everyone learns at the same pace. Neither do we all have access to the country club pool, or even a pool in general. Good swim lessons are expensive.
Typical post of clueless DCUM...

Doesn’t everyone in DC have access to pools through DCPR?

Agreed! Especially because it’s so hot here in July & August. We have so many great free pools here in DC too, baffles me that kids aren’t as into it

Oh and not all parents know how to swim either...

Not everyone learns at the same pace. Neither do we all have access to the country club pool, or even a pool in general. Good swim lessons are expensive.
Typical post of clueless DCUM...

Our kid has just never enjoyed it. She hates putting her head under water and refuses to learn or practice it.

We swam because it was cheap and easy. The high school pool offered swim lessons for $5/session in the 90s and free swim was $.25. My mom had us there daily with all the neighborhood kids.

My own kid has a million other options. I made sure he swam well enough to not drown, but swimming for fun is not something he’s ever had interest in.

Anonymous wrote: Mine are 5 & 7, and can both dive and swim across the pool and granted I swam year round for 10 years but no one else I know with kids similar ages can do this yet. And pools are so shallow! Our country club does has a deep end with diving boards (as did mine in the 90s) but are kids just more wary of water now? I feel like it’s not only a safety thing knowing how to swim well…. But it’s also summer fun! You used to get teased if you couldn’t dive by the time you were 7 or 8.

I attribute this to just different parenting trends. My kids were swimming by 5 and 6. I think learning water safety is just lower priority but I also parents are more wary. I see this in other domains, too, like the prevalence of 3 wheel scooters. There's no need for 3 wheels. Kids can naturally balance on 2 wheel scooters as young as 4 and definitely at 5. But whether this matters at all in the long run... :shrug:

Mine are 5 & 7, and can both dive and swim across the pool and granted I swam year round for 10 years but no one else I know with kids similar ages can do this yet. And pools are so shallow! Our country club does has a deep end with diving boards (as did mine in the 90s) but are kids just more wary of water now? I feel like it’s not only a safety thing knowing how to swim well…. But it’s also summer fun! You used to get teased if you couldn’t dive by the time you were 7 or 8.