how can we stop our citizens from drowning?

I survived childhood with 4 or 5 of my 9 lives remaining, we lived close to a river and fishing was a regular occupation, at 7 or 8 we used to go off with our rods on our own, couldn’t swim but fully clothed it wouldn’t have made a difference. We knew the river was dangerous so we’re careful, we were much more responsible in those days we learned from the scrapes we got into.
We had a local villiage Bobby who kept an eye what everyone was doing we were wary of him because our any wrongdoings would get back to our parents and that usually had painful consequences.
Youngsters today don’t get the consequences of risk, they sit in front of a screen playing a game if they crash they press reset and repeat, we did it for real if our pram wheel gokart crashed it hurt, if it broke we rebuilt it.

Oreo

Trisha99

escaped

I don't think we can ever do anything about many young men feeling immortal and taking risks.

I agree with you escaped-at the risk of being called a cynic we wouldn’t have a military if young men became risk adverse.

Very true.

Agreed.

There is foolhardy swimming then there are accidents where someone slips or a child falls into a river or pond despite the vigilance of a nearby parent.
Water 'draws'. I can still remember falling into a pond as a child when I was just standing gazing at the fish.

Cold

I think more could be done to teach water safety in the UK and possibly beef up the swimming curriculum.

In the UK you pass "swimming" by being able to swim 25 metres - my kids went to school in Sweden where you need to swim 200 metres (including 50m backstroke) to pass year 6.

I it also compulsory to learn basic lifesaving and there is an optional class that simulates falling through the ice and how to get yourself out.

In Scotland swimming is not on the National Curriculum.
I think drownings in Scotland are 3x rUK.
It's a postcode lottery as to whether your child will have swimming lessons in primary school. It's an absolute disgrace (everyone gets free prescriptions/baby boxes etc though)
Children get taught some "water safety skills" maybe the government thinks if they can't swim they won't go in.

It's not just that , though. Every year we have reports of someone whose dog has got into trouble & who has gone in after them & drowned.
So I guess for people who've got over that "dare-devil young" phase, be careful where you let your dog swim & if they're in trouble, get a lifeguard or coastguard (who will rescue dogs), don't go in yourself.
(some of the dogs get out OK, whilst their rescuer drowns)

I think more could be done to teach water safety in the UK and possibly beef up the swimming curriculum.

In the UK you pass "swimming" by being able to swim 25 metres - my kids went to school in Sweden where you need to swim 200 metres (including 50m backstroke) to pass year 6.

I it also compulsory to learn basic lifesaving and there is an optional class that simulates falling through the ice and how to get yourself out.

Trisha99

escaped

I don't think we can ever do anything about many young men feeling immortal and taking risks.

I agree with you escaped-at the risk of being called a cynic we wouldn’t have a military if young men became risk adverse.

Very true.

You can’t stop stupid.
A lake near my DD has a very high wall round it, a high padlocked gate at the entrance and signs saying Deep Water. No Swimming Allowed
And still there are some youths who see this as a challenge.

However good a swimmer you are the sea is unpredictable and some still drown. Most children here learn to swim early, around 6 years old but sometimes they are a bit too over confident and still need adult supervision. Covid was bad for a lack of swimming instruction for young ones.

escaped

I don't think we can ever do anything about many young men feeling immortal and taking risks.

I agree with you escaped-at the risk of being called a cynic we wouldn’t have a military if young men became risk adverse.

escaped

We are required to teach water safety in school. Certainly at Key Stage 2. Apart from the actual swimming skills, the National Curriculum requires that by Year 6 age 11 years, pupils should be able to perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations. And that they should understand the dangers of water and the water safety code.
This is done in PSHE.
I don't know if it is reinforced at secondary school level?

I don’t know about high school either. Certainly swimming is not part of the curriculum at my DGD’s high school.
We used to take our primary school children to the local baths, until it closed. Now they have sessions booked at the local gym, and DGD’s former school use the university swimming baths.

Witzend funny Shakespearean quote.
Youth will be youth.

We are required to teach water safety in school. Certainly at Key Stage 2. Apart from the actual swimming skills, the National Curriculum requires that by Year 6 age 11 years, pupils should be able to perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations. And that they should understand the dangers of water and the water safety code.
This is done in PSHE.
I don't know if it is reinforced at secondary school level?

But we never had swimming lessons at my school nor my children’s or grandchildren’s it was up to the parents
I paid for my kids to learn to swim and dive and life save the same as they did with my grandkids but they were all taught to be aware of things and not to be stupid
Wyllow I think that’s a great idea to have a big old drama with the like of Stephen Graham paying a grieving father and lets boys see that dads cry for them too

the best we can do not the vest)

I think practically and given financial and practical limitations about being taught to swim in a pool (less pools, expensive for schools to take to lessons) and water. health safety (water currents, shock and icy cold water)

Realistically the vest we can do is have a couple of really good videos that are shown in schools and put out on SM - put out on TV for parents at key watching times - or a good drama based on it (like Adolescence did for other aspects of Sm and youth)

it may cut the numbers, after that there isnt a lot you can do.

I used to fish a very large upland reservoir where bathing was strictly forbidden. There were currents, underwater hazards and places where the bank was so soft because of streams running off the hills that undermined it and if you tried to get out of the water your legs would sink. There were notices all over the place. Very cold water. Strictly no bathing. No wading. Young people walking in the forest would frequently see this as an opportunity to cool off on a hot day, strip off down to their shreddies and get in. The fishery management team would patrol in a boat with a loudhailer but they couldn’t be everywhere.

Homestead62

I don't know if there is a direct link, but our Council closed many swimming pools, so how are people to learn to swim? There was a young swimmer on TV recently talking about this situation. Of course I realise that even swimmers can drown if they get into particular difficulty. However, if there is nowhere to learn in the first place, makes it difficult.

Yes, our town centre pool complex has been demolished, since apparently the roof was beyond repair - and it wasn’t many decades old. There are two others, but they’re both at least a couple of miles away, and if you don’t use public transport, you have to pay a few ££ to park.
It was already expensive enough for anyone with young children who isn’t comfortably off.

It’ll be at least 5 years before a new pool complex will be operational.
What local schools do now about swimming lessons I don’t know.

I don't know if there is a direct link, but our Council closed many swimming pools, so how are people to learn to swim? There was a young swimmer on TV recently talking about this situation. Of course I realise that even swimmers can drown if they get into particular difficulty. However, if there is nowhere to learn in the first place, makes it difficult.

M0nica

It is like all those groups of lads where one has just passed his driving test, and 3 or 4 of them jump in a car and drive round their neighbourhood, in town or country at great speed, run out of road, hit trees etc etc and kill themselves.

Short of incarcerating all young males between 15-25, I cannot think of a solution.

‘O would that there were no age between fifteen and thirty, for in between there is nothing but stealing, fighting, wronging the ancientry, getting wenches with child, and drowning through their own stupidity.’

(Wildly misquoted from Shakespeare)

Often I think our brains go into "holiday mode". And we just don't see the dangers.

We had 323 accidental drownings in Australia in 2024.Mostly people getting caught in rips in the sea or being washed off rocks whilst fishing. Some in backyard pools, some rivers and dams. We do have lifeguards but many people ignore the ‘swim between the flags’advice, partly because those areas are crowded I suppose. They are very,very strict about fencing private pools which seems a bit strange because dams, lakes and rivers etc are just open of course. It seems many of the sea drownings are visitors who just don’t realise how dangerous our tides can be.

I agree allsorts the young feel invincible it’s sad but unlikely to change a hot day, a body of water and a knowledge of how to swim and plop …. They re in
Living near the sea my grandkids thankfully had full knowledge from small as to when they could or couldn’t swim
and why
What countries make you walk around in buoyancy aids when near (not in ) water Macadia I ve never heard of it or seen it ?

I was in Spain once and the beach was cordoned off as dangerous conditions, a young man I m sorry I ll say it quietly (he was a Brit ) defied the ropes and went in the water within minutes a Spanish policeman had pulled him out and hit him across the shoulders a number of times with his baton It was a good few years back so perhaps they re not so handy with their batons now but he probably saved his life

I doubt we can stop such accidents when spirits are high and you are young we do daft things in the moment as sense goes out of the window

Yes Baggs. Isnt it the gasp factor. Jumping/falling into cold water stops your breath.

Another one for schools to warn about!! I wish we had warnings on TV still. But I suppose young men 15 to 25 are hardly likely to watch TV anymore.
Living near the Thames, we have always been aware of the flow speed and the unkonwn depth of the water which together with underwater hazards is a recipe for disaster when youngsters, and older, men mainly attempt to awim across on hot days. Often after plenty of alcohol.
They aren't likely to read warning signs either. Same sort of dangers as walking on icy ponds or rivers.
Not a great deal we can do to answer the question posted. Keep safe yourself. And yes Monica a rubber ring and arm bands when you go into town!

I doubt we ever can. Quite apart from the dangers of lakes and rivers (and as a pp said, young men thinking they’re immortal) you’ve only got to watch a few of the RNLI ‘Saving Lives At Sea’ programmes to see the daft things people (who can often swim quite well) do all the time.

In particular, RNLI incidents involving paddle boards have apparently risen sharply - winds and tides taking people too far out very fast.

Re respect for the sea (the old grey widow-maker*) as my ex RN father used to call it, I particularly remember what a Barbadian told us of his granny’s saying:
(In the local accent) - ‘Thee sea have no back door.’
How true!

*from Kipling, IIRC.