What do I tell my child after a drowning?
Never did I think 
I would have to answer the question, “What do I tell my child after a drowning happens”? Have to admit was never ready for that question.
Hey swimmers its ya boy Curtis Knight your online swim instructor. Today I ran into a mother of one of my students I coach swimming lessons to during the summer. As soon as she saw me I could tell she knew exactly what she wanted to ask me and seemed worried. Straight away I put down whatever it was I was doing to see what was wrong.
She began to tell me that a friend of her child in preschool class passed away & the cause was drowning. I was stuck like a deer in headlights processing what she said. I had to recite it back to her & I realized that it was very close to home for her & she really didn’t know what to tell her child.
In this case I really thought about what was coming out of my mouth, being that this subject is not a light subject at all. You really don’t think about the kids that have just learned how to swim & that they were terrified of the water in the first place, NOW THIS HAPPENS!!! Of course you are going to have to have an answer to some questions your child will ask about the pool again. Really & honestly there is no one way to approach this situation but I can help with things that may come up.
Some Ways To Prepare For This Question:
- Don’t bring up the subject of drowning unless your child does. (No need to stir the pot)
- Remind them that they have, or are taking swim lessons. To reassure their confidence of “this is why” we…… (practice, don’t swim alone, etc.)
- Go over safety skills with them to reaffirm their SAFETY.
- Let them know the reason you have a gate around your pool, or a sound alarm, etc.
- Practice in the bathtub. (Bathtubs are a great place to start & continue water skills because of the comfort kids have in tubs)
- Before swimming or water events kindly go over the rules in and around the water.
- Honesty is the best policy. I’m not telling you to scare your child, I’m telling you to find that fine line of being honest about dangers of the pool, and that mistakes happen and sometimes the results are permanent.
Parenting is never an easy thing, we all try our very best to make sure we say and do the right things. Just be sure that it’s coming from a place of love and sincerity.