The Dominion WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1928. BATHING FATALITIES

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 87, 11 January 1928, Page 8

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1928. BATHING FATALITIES

* During a certain English summer a London newspaper headed its almost daily list of bathing fatalities, “The Drownihg Season.” Already before our present summer has developed its full measure of delectable heat and added to the lure of the water, there have been several distressing bathing fatalities. We are all familiar with that part of the tragic story which tells , that the bather “was seen to be in difficulties,” of the attempts at rescue, and, quite frequently, of the drowning of the gallant would-be rescuer. These sad happenings are recorded summer after summer Most of them can be traced to the fact that the victims have been unable to swim. But even with persons able to swim, fatalities often occur. To be able to swim is one thing. To be able to act quickly in emergency is another. In many of our schools the teaching of' swimming is part of the routine. In others it is not. To make the teaching of this highly necessary accomplishment compulsory would seem to be an essential step in the direction of reducing the number, of bathing fatalities. One would imagine that it would be considered quite as important that the school children should be taught to swim as that they should be taught how to clean their teeth. The prominence of the latter subject in the school curriculum is largely due to the amount and effectiveness of propaganda by advocates of dental hygiene. A public opinion has been created in its favour, and to its advantage. It is true that our swimming clubs have for years been active in impressing upon the youth of New Zealand the importance of learning to swim. The influence of their efforts can be seen in many of the schools. But it has been uphill work. At present school children may be taught to swim. .What is wanted is an effective transformation of the word “may” to the word “must.” ' Education in the art of swimming, however, should not end with mere individual proficiency in strokes. It should include such instruction within the scope of the larger question of life-saving, not merely the saving of others, but the saving of oneself. The fact that even swimmers lose their lives points to the need for the creation of a public sense of risk. Swimmers get into difficulties through venturing in unknown pools and surfs. There are such things as snags, hidden rocks, dangerous under-tows. The plastic mind of youth is the most convenient receptacle for precautionary axioms. The things to avoid, and the things to do when in difficulties, should be indelibly impressed upon them when they are being taught their strokes. , This'is a matter which might well engage the attention of the Education authorities. A Syllabus Committee ha? been sitting for months past revising present methods and curricula. Has it devoted any attention to the very necessary art of swimming? .The trouble is that these fatalities mostly occur when the schools are closed and the teachers, on holiday bent. Obviously, the question is in need of a point of concentration for public discussion. A valuable lead in this connection might be given by the New Zealand Educational Institute.