In pools, young blacks drown at far higher rates

Associated Press ^ | May 15, 2014 6:43 PM EDT | Mike Stobbe

[Olog-hai]

Swimming pools are a much greater danger to black children and teens than they are to other kids, a new government study shows.

Black children ages 5 to 19 drown in swimming pools at a rate more than five times that of white children, the research found. That suggests a lot of blacks are not learning to swim, said the lead author, Dr. Julie Gilchrist of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Swimming is a life-saving skill, not just another sport, she said. …

[Theophilus]

I've seen it first hand. There was a rail thin, but muscular black guy in my Boy Scout troop, no identifiable fat whatsoever. He absolutely sank like a rock. He could tread water but he could not float by filling his lungs and relaxing. He just deep sixed every time.

It was the only time I ever felt good about being fat.

[jch10]

You are exactly right. Black parents can’t swim and it isn’t a priority that their children swim.

I’ve taught swimming to both races and a fear of the water is what keeps a child from learning to swim, not body fat. You don’t wait until they start to school to expose them to water either. My own children were swimming at three. They “bobbed” around in our arms every summer until they could keep their heads above the water for themselves. They had access to float toys too.

Experience in the water helps the child to excel. Black children are no different from other children when it comes to water.

[caver]

My mother couldn’t swim but she made sure my brother and I took swim lessons every summer for about 6 years.

[jch10]

My mother couldn’t swim either but she made sure we could.

I should have said, “some parents.” Didn’t mean to paint with such a broad brush.....

[Gay State Conservative]

"How many of you out there can't swim?

audience laughs in acknowledgment

"Most of us have drowned!

[Night Hides Not]

“That suggests a lot of blacks are not learning to swim” ...and there folks is why the person that made that quote is a Doctor.

Silly me, I thought it was Captain Obvious.

My kids were 4, 3, and 5, respectively, when I taught them how to swim...they're now 27, 25, and 12. This summer, I'll teach my soon-to-be 4 YO grandson how to swim.

[Night Hides Not]

Whitewater to be blamed next...

The Clinton Truth Squad is getting out in front of this story.

[Night Hides Not]

Racism at work again. It is discrimination.

Are you sure it's not Darwinism?

[Cementjungle]

When I was 5 my parents took me up to camp in Maine and wanted me to start there 2 years younger than the normal starting age for campers (a relative owned the camp). They basically dropped me into the lake and said that if I could swim to the end of the dock that I could stay. I did, so I stayed (had to be in the youngest cabin for 3 summers until I was old enough to start advancing to the next cabin with the others).

[Mike Darancette]

I, also, was interested in other information, such as where these drownings occurred.

The article specifically said swimming pools. I am just guessing here that the majority of black swimming pool drownings are in public pools, so don't they have lifeguards?

[The Great RJ]

It is certainly due to racism. How many Blacks have been on the US Olympic swimming teams?...absolute proof of racism.

[NCLaw441]

When I was growing up there were pools at most apartments, and there were public pools where you could swim all day if you wanted for about a dollar. We were pretty poor, but we always found places to swim.

[Quick Shot]

want to talk basketball???

[sport]

That would be my view, and it could be the effects of slavery also but I am not about to pit my wisdom against the media, the just us bros, the social scientists, the Democrat Party, or the professional race baiters.

[trisham]

This is news almost every summer.

[Tax-chick]

All the ones I know of have lifeguards.

[dfwgator]

Maybe they’ll come out with a new movie, “Black Men Can’t Swim.”

[eartrumpet]

Notice also that the CDC report discusses ‘rates’ and never mentions how many blacks have drowned, plus minimizes the fact that American Indians/Alaskan Natives (AI/AN) had the highest rates, NOT blacks.

I would hazard a guess that 32 degree water and ice floes have something to do with the drowning Alaskans.

I grew up in the deep south before integration and at the city pool, they opened it up for the black kids at certain hours every day. That was always a wild time to be there. They would gather outside the tall fence waiting the hour. We would all head for the far side of the pool. Lifeguard would open the gate and they would rush en masse and dive in to the near side. Then it was lots of fun with hundreds of kids splashing everywhere and the black kids doing dives we never attempted. I don't remember any sinking or drowning, they all were great swimmers.

[PA Engineer]

I’m skeptical of the body fat explanation. We were a bunch of skinny white kids when I was growing up and learning to swim. I’d be surprised if black kids these days are statistically any leaner than we were. I do remember some of the black kids struggling but it seemed related to a fear of water and a tendency to panic. I think they were acculturated into that fear before they had any experience with trying to swim.

I agree. I taught swimming for years to supplement college. Further, just look at any great swimmer. They are both lean with far greater upper body development than the average population.

I found mostly a lack of experience and consequently fear as the primary issues in non-swimmers. It takes time and understanding to train people who are fearful of water to be competent swimmers.

I don't see race as an issue, as much as adequate exposure to swimming pools and competent trainers. It is best to begin with a young child rather than unlearning years of fear over water.

[Rudder]

Less tidal air... they have trouble floating.