It's happened again -- another mass drowning in a shallow river.

[NotUrsula]

It has happened again. Six AA teens drowned together while wading in a river near Shreveport, Louisiana. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=11310245 Two families lost three children each.

A nearly identical incident happened here in Missouri four years ago; that group was at a church outing, and the death toll was five, including four siblings.

It kills me to hear these stories; just kills me. I grew up on the water in a commercial fishing family, and water safety was like a religion to us. I just sent a donation to USA Swimming's Make a Splash Program, and I'm praying for the families of these kids.

 

[Jennasis]

So sad. You could see the pain and how distraught the family members were in the video.

 

[luvmy3]

It is a sad story, but none of them or the adults could swim. I can't even fathom why any of them would be in a river

 

[NY Disney fan]

Please I mean no disrespect but if none of the teens or adults could swim why did they go in? I agree, this is a tragedy. I pray for these poor people.

 

[Hoodie]

My prayers go out to the families, the Sherriff department, and the first responders.

No one should have to deal with a tragedy like this. Made even worse because it is 100% preventable.

 

[Hoodie]

It is a sad story, but none of them or the adults could swim. I can't even fathom why any of them would be in a river

None of the adults could swim, none of the kids could swim, and the kids went off to an area not meant for swimming.

Utterly tragic and utterly preventable.

 

[kamik86]

Please I mean no disrespect but if none of the teens or adults could swim why did they go in? I agree, this is a tragedy. I pray for these poor people.

I agree, my mom can't swim and as a kid we were not allowed to go NEAR water if Dad wasn't around unless it was a lifeguarded beach (at least until my sisters were old enough and swam well enough to watch me).

I can't imagine going into water like that espeically a river or lake since most have those odd spots where one place your only up to your chest and you take a step and are over your head.

 

[kristilew]

That's awful. There have been several drownings at our local beaches this summer as well, due to people not respecting the power of the water.

The story in your link makes some interesting points about historical racial disparities and swim education. It seems like the sort of thing someone in the AA community would want to take on. Is this what the Make a Splash program does?

 

[NY Disney fan]

Utterly tragic and utterly preventable.

...at the same time this could happen to anyone. We all take risks in life and its by the grace of God that we survive some of them.

 

[luvmy3]

None of the adults could swim, none of the kids could swim, and the kids went off to an area not meant for swimming.

Utterly tragic and utterly preventable.

Yes that is what makes it so much more sad. I can't imagine what those parents are going through having to watch their children drown and not be able to do anything about it. However I feel that had those parents used better judgement then none of it would have happened in the first place and its hard to get past that.

 

[mjkacmom]

I heard this on the news this morning - why can't these kids swim?! All children should get swimming lessons, starting when they are very young. Can't afford it? Find a way. Skating lessons, skiing lesson, gymnastics, piano - all luxuries. Kids don't want to take swim lessons - too bad. Otherwise, these children are in danger of drowning for the rest of their lives.

 

[bettymae1121]

How horrible!

My mother never learned to swim (wouldn't set foot on a boat without a life jacket because of it), but made sure my brothers and I learned as soon as we were old enough because she knew that it wasn't only something fun for us to do in the summer, it could also save our lives one day. Even good swimers get into trouble, but knowing how to swim can still buy you a few minutes until someone can rescue you.

 

[TwinsinCA]

The only people I know who can't swim are phobic in some way. It still surprises me to hear about adults who can't swim.

 

[NotUrsula]

That's awful. There have been several drownings at our local beaches this summer as well, due to people not respecting the power of the water.

The story in your link makes some interesting points about historical racial disparities and swim education. It seems like the sort of thing someone in the AA community would want to take on. Is this what the Make a Splash program does?

Yes. It is a program that in conjuction with local partners makes special free or low-cost swim lesson programs available to minority kids, and more importantly, intercedes with their families to overcome cultural resistance patterns and get them there. The program did surveys to try to trace the root of the problem, and what they found was that drowning rates are much higher in families where adults are also unable to swim and afraid of water.

As to what they were doing there; it's a sandbar, as is the area near St. Louis where the other incident happened. For the most part the water is only about knee-deep, and that is why they thought it was safe to just splash around and get their feet wet. However, once they had stirred up the bottom silt they lost visibility, and did not perceive the drop-off, which is also what happened in Missouri. Once one went down the others tried to help him up and they also fell off the hidden ledge. This kind of accident is all too common among folks who don't fish or spend time boating -- they have no reason to know that currents in moving water will often create great variations in the depth of natural streams.

 

[Jennasis]

I never took swimming lessons, and I certainly am not a good swimmer, but I can doggie paddle my way back to shore if need be. I wonder if the drowning had as much to do with the number of people (perhaps blindly panicking and trying to "climb" onto the other people)?

 

[wvjules]

it is a sad story, but none of them or the adults could swim. I can't even fathom why any of them would be in a river

mte!

 

[NY Disney fan]

For anyone that is reading this and can't swim: If you ever find yourself in deep water, float on your back with your head back as far back as you can go and your whole body completely relaxed. The water will carry you. This works for me...anyone else have tips?

 

[kamik86]

I never took swimming lessons, and I certainly am not a good swimmer, but I can doggie paddle my way back to shore if need be. I wonder if the drowning had as much to do with the number of people (perhaps blindly panicking and trying to "climb" onto the other people)?

I hadn't thought about this but I'm inclined to agree. If you just stepped off the ledge your still literally next to the shallow spot. It would take total panic to not be ok.

Then again I know how well people who are afraid of water panic. My husband can't swim. He is afraid of water so refuses to go in most times and won't learn. He went down a water slide with me and the bump into the pool at the end made us both fall off. I come up and turn to see him flailing and trying to swim and had to pull him up... Note we were in about 4-5 feet of water and he is 5'10" all he had to do was stand up.

 

[wvjules]

For anyone that is reading this and can't swim: If you ever find yourself in deep water, float on your back with your head back as far back as you can go and your whole body completely relaxed. The water will carry you. This works for me...anyone else have tips?

Besides the obvious of learning to swim or wearing a lifejacket when in or near water?

 

[kamik86]

For anyone that is reading this and can't swim: If you ever find yourself in deep water, float on your back with your head back as far back as you can go and your whole body completely relaxed. The water will carry you. This works for me...anyone else have tips?

This does work well I will also note that if your a bit on the heavy side and think you wont float as well, its the opposite. I'm heavy and float better then people who are skinny as fat is less dense it is actually impossible for me to sit on the bottom I will float up no matter what. the trick is just to put your head back (ears in the water) as then you will be balanced and not end up head first.