How to Prevent Child Drownings

Re “Children Drowning Spurs Crusades for Safe Pools� (July 29): When we hear and read about drownings or near drownings of children in this county, we too are saddened. Of course, it is a terrible thing to read about, not to mention the actual families that become the victims.

But with every incident, our question is, “Why don’t they teach their kids how to swim?� We just don’t understand why these people have pools and their kids don’t know how to swim! It really doesn’t make any sense.

We have a pool in our back yard. We spent about $25,000 on our pool and about the same on our landscaping to make our back yard beautiful. This is part of our house design. We do not want to have to put a fence around our pool.

We do not have any children. We have a secluded back yard with a large wooden fence all around to keep people out, and our neighbors who do have children all have pools, but those children are old enough to swim on their own.

Instead of passing a law that forces every homeowner with a pool to put up a fence and/or pool cover, why not pass a law that says they have to teach their kids how to swim? This makes more sense.

Children can be taught how to swim at the age of 5 months. It’s a natural thing to get babies used to water and not be afraid of it. By the time children are a year old and can walk, start teaching them extensively to swim, so that if a situation arises and for that (average of) 45 seconds while their supervisors have turned their backs and the kids fall in the pool, they can keep their heads above the water.

LISA RYMER

DAN RYMER

Laguna Niguel