Parents urged to teach kids to swim as drownings increase
PARENTS have been urged to give their children swimming lessons after alarming figures on drowning tragedies were revealed.
The Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report for 2015, released on Tuesday, shows a 30% increase in drowning deaths in children aged up to four years.
Supervision and adequate swimming lessons have been highlighted as crucial to reversing the tragic trend.
WIRAC manager Frederic Meyer said: "Parents can rely too much on school programs to teach their children proper swimming lessons.
"If a school does not offer a swimming program then it is the parents' responsibility to ensure they get lessons themselves.
"I know this can be a financial burden, but you can't place a price on a life."
The report found that almost 1 in 10 drowning deaths in Australia was of a child aged four or under.
There were 26 deaths in this age group, compared to 20 in the previous year. More than half of them drowned in swimming pools.
Enrolments are now open for WIRAC's Learn to Swim program, starting Tuesday, October 6. For more information phone 4661 7955.
