Here near Seattle, the "narrative" is that black adults (boomer generation) could not afford country clubs to learn to swim, so their kids and now the present black youth all have a fear of water and did not learn to swim.
As a sidebar - growing up in WA state in the 50's, it was manditory to show some swimming proficiancy to graduate from high school. In grades 3 to 5, all had school sponsored swimming lessons (part of the water proofing of a generation that has so much water around us).
It’s a necessary life skill.
Always be able to run, swim, throw something hard, pick up something heavy, create shelter, find water/food, etc.
Maybe mix some of Psychology’s Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs with real world applications.