The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement that there is little justification for swimming lessons for children under the age of four. Their recommendation warns that children do not possess the coordination to learn how to swim under the age of 4 and that any swimming lesson program gives a false sense of security to parents about their childÍs swimming skills.

While we do share the concerns about drownings of children and we do appreciate their efforts in raising awareness about the issue, we feel that this is not a balanced representation. To this date, there have been no controlled studies to support this policy by the Academy. Their recommendation is unfounded and particularly of concern since we feel that there are benefits in participating in a high quality aquatics program such as ours.

There is no question that a child of any age will ever be completely "drownproof" or "watersafe"; however we can teach our children and their parents to be safer around the water. A few important elements of water safety are:

• Constant supervision around pools and open water.
• All doors leading to pools, lakes, etc. should be self closing and self locking.
• Pool areas should be completely fenced in.
• Parents and caretaker should be certified in CPR.
• Swimming instruction in a high quality aquatics program.

The best aquatics programs focus on three areas: swimming skills, safety behaviors for the child to use around the water, and education of parents on the learn to swim process and water safety strategies they should employ. Aquatic instruction is an ongoing process and should continue over the long term to maximize the childÍs learning proper swimming techniques and respect for the water.

Saint Street Swim is a member of the National Swim School Association. The NSSA is a professional organization formed by swim school owners and teachers to enhance instruction and operation of aquatic facilities worldwide. The organization has had an infant/toddler swimming certification for over ten years that has been adapted in several countries. Our teachers who teach classes of our younger swimmers have received the NSSAÍs infant/toddler certification and we follow their guidelines for teaching infants. All of our teachers are lifeguards and certified in CPR.

We take pride in the cleanliness of our facility. We take protective measures to prevent fecal contamination and are prepared to handle such a situation.

How many families in South Texas can keep their children form being exposed to pools or beaches until the age of four? It is a tragedy not to allow a child to have supervised access to this part of their environment.

All children should participate in a high quality aquatics program before the age of four, especially in a community with as many swimming pools as ours. At Saint Street Swim we are proud of our commitment to improve awareness and water safety in the community.

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