Modern times have seen the advent of a growing concern that children have started to lead extremely sedentary lifestyles. It is necessary, now more than ever, to ensure that children are involved in physical activities from a nascent stage. If executed with proper care and attention, swimming can be a great exercise as well as recreation for kids. Yet, while the health benefits of the sport are undeniable, so are the dangers associated with the same.

Recently, a swimming instructor declared a commonplace practice at the swimming pool to be life-threatening for kids. Nikki Scarnati, who is a certified infant swim instructor from the US, shared a video on social media shunning a regular practice at the pool. In the TikTok video, she explained the hazards of putting a towel around a child’s shoulders. Some parents thought the advice was a great one, while others trolled her for it.

The untold dangers of swimming

Nikki explained that if a kid fell down in the pool with a towel over their shoulders, the chances of them drowning increase manifold as they would be unable to move their arms underwater. The swim instructor acknowledged the fact that draping the towel over the shoulders was an instinctual move. In fact, she admitted that at some point she had indulged in the same practice.

According to 7 News, the instructor added “Naturally we wanna cover them like this, right? No, because if they were to fall in the pool this way, all of their limbs are gonna be restricted underneath a wet towel.” Giving a solution to the problem, Nikki said that the safe way to drape a towel around one’s child after swimming was to lift the arms up and wrap the towel under the arms.

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She added, “That way, if they end up in the water, they still have access to their limbs to self-rescue, and they’re that much safer.” The video, which has received more than twenty thousand views, received several comments from the viewers. While some agreed with her advice, there were others who ridiculed it.

Netizens react to advice proving them wrong

When 7 News shared the post on their Facebook profile, people started to comment as it started to circulate. A sarcastic comment on the post read, “Glad I raised my kids 30 years ago….they survived my neglectful parenting”. Another parent thought that they had nothing to worry about and said, “This must only apply to parents that don’t give their children adequate supervision or guidance.”

Another swimming instructor disagreed with this notion, and said, “So she doesn’t think the weight of the towel tied tightly around the child’s torso is going to drag the child under faster than their tiny arms are going to be able to paddle?” Another commentator revealed the real reason for kids drowning, and said, “The biggest reason children drown is lack of supervision, not towels wrapped over their shoulders restricting their movement. Just supervise and do water safety and drowning prevention properly.”

The effectiveness of the instructor’s advice is unknown, however, one thing is clear, it is absolutely mandatory to practice extreme caution while taking one’s kids swimming, as precaution is always better where precious lives are concerned.

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