PARENTS DIVE INTO AQUATICS
Red Cross programs unite parents and kids in "Learn-to-Swim"
By Mary Barnett CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Parents Important Part of the Team with American Red Cross Swimming and Water Safety Programs

The American Red Cross knows that despite their own ability or confidence in the water, parents need to actively participate in their child's swimming and water safety development is a key factor to a positive and successful experience. This is a major reason why the parent's role is emphasized in the organization's Learn-to-Swim and Parent and Child Aquatics. Both are being offered beginning this season through various aquatic facilities and pools around the Asheville area.

"Parents can really play a pivotal role in their child's aquatic advancement," Mary Barnett, Health and Safety Director at the Asheville- Mountain Area Chapter. "The American Red Cross believes the number one thing parents can do to keep families safe in and around the water is to make sure everyone learns to swim and learns to swim well." The American Red Cross Learn-to-Swim program consists of six levels of instruction that help in the developing swimming and water safety skills for children and adults.

The Parent and Child Aquatics program is designed for parents and their children ages 6 months to 5 years. "This program shows parents how to safely work with their child in the water while increasing the child's comfort level," says Mary Barnett. Once able to perform basic skills without parents, kids are ready to move to the Learn-to-Swim program.

Along with taking an active role in a child's aquatic development, the American Red Cross suggests parents remember the following:

Make safety number one. Practice "reach supervision" at all times. "Parents should be within arm's length of your child in case of a water related emergency," cautions the local chaper spokesperson. Don't depend on flotation devices and inflatable toys, which are for fun. These are not designed to be a safety device. Repeat pool rules. "Because they're still maturing, children must be constantly reminded to only enter the water with you and walk slowly in the pool area and only enter the water with you."

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