Most children under 5 are trained to drown, via poor instruction or improper use of flotation equipment. A child can’t do the math. At three with full lungs they will float 3 inches under the water in a vertical position. With a lifejacket rated at 10 pounds of floatation they will float 4 inches above! If they are not trained and given instruction without floats they will not understand that they are a negative 3 inches and must negotiate that through holding breath, special back floating positions, arm movements etc.
Three examples of how you teach a child how to drown:
1. Conditioning children to jump into the water with lifejackets on, when they don’t know how to swim.
2. Instructors and parents always holding and catching their children, not letting them understand the depth and their natural floating state.
3. Use of shallow or zero depth pools, especially hot tubs, where the bench to a 3 foot deep tub is death trap. A child can easily drown in 3 feet of water.
Innocent fun and play is still an educational arena for children. Remember they don’t necessarily know the dangers since you are protecting them. Explain why you are protecting them and how that keeps the play fun.