JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Community groups raised funds to provide free swim lessons to more than 250 local students at the new Winston Family YMCA.
Water is everywhere in Jacksonville and it can be unsafe for children who don’t know how to swim. Of the 18 people who drowned in Jacksonville this year 5 were kids under 14.
It is a generational problem where parents themselves can not swim and skills or new training is not passed on to their children. Not having access to lessons or financial restraints are barriers to acquiring water skills.
The Y’s Safety Around Water curriculum teaches children how to swim to the surface and reach a pool edge. The goal is to teach children how to get out safely and respond to unexpected water situations.
