Water Safety Education for Kids

While conducting research for my book on swimming, I was disturbed to learn that drowning is the second leading cause of death among children aged  5 to 14 years. As a long-time swim instructor and proponent of water safety, this statistic was so concerning that I did a “deep dive” and ultimately learned that Illinois lacked any type of school-based water safety awareness programs. Determined to reduce drowning deaths in my own state, I started advocating for such a program. I reached out to elementary school principals, explaining the problem and my proposal. I have received positive responses from three local school districts to add water safety awareness in their P.E. curriculum. These successes have given me the confidence to reach  out to the Illinois Superintendent of Education about my program proposal; I have received an initial positive response and discussions are continuing. As I move forward, I remain committed to ensure that every child has access to water safety awareness education to keep them safe.