Reframing Risk and Responsibility around Water Play from PART 2
join us as we dive deep into water safety for children
Last week we gave you an introduction to risky play in natural aquatic environments. If you missed it, click here to read now.
This week, we’re diving a little deeper into the issue of water safety for children.
We are ALL FOR risky play—we love seeing kids getting wild and pushing the boundaries a little.
But there’s a difference between allowing them to take measured risks and negligence, and we’re here to help illuminate that difference.
We take water safety seriously at Wildlings. Let’s be honest, we take all kinds of safety seriously at Wildlings. And we don’t beat around the bush—if something is dangerous, we say so. For example, we’re open with kids about the dangers of whittling. We explain that if they use a sharp knife near their leg, they run the risk of cutting their femoral artery and bleeding out *gulp* very quickly.
So when it comes to water play, we think it’s worthwhile having brave conversations about how serious the dangers are. If you’ve never had a conversation about drowning before, then perhaps now is the time.
Playing in aquatic environments is an important part of the Australian lifestyle, but as such it’s easy for us to underestimate how dangerous these environments can be.
DROWNING STATISTICS
Let’s get the scary stuff out of the way quickly:
- 339 people drowned in Australian waterways in 2021/22
- Rivers & creeks were the top locations for drownings accounting for 34% of all deaths. River/creek locations recorded a 65% increase compared with the 10-year average, while beaches recorded a 25% increase and lake/dam locations recorded a 28% increase.
- 15 children aged 5-14 years drowned in Australia in 2021/22, an unfortunate increase of 36% compared to the 10-year average
- 82% of all drowning deaths were males
- In 2021/22, half of all beach and lake/dam drowning deaths occurred during summer (50%).
Source: Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report 2022
What these statistics show is that more of us are playing in outdoor aquatic environments, especially in summer, and it’s likely that the pandemic and lack of access to swimming lessons can account for the rise in drownings, especially in children.
Scary stuff, right? Knowledge is power, and it pays to be informed when it comes to helping our kids learn how to stay safe so we can all have fun around the water.
A quick note on swimming lessons if you missed our post last week—please consider getting your child swimming lessons, they are the number one best prevention against drowning. If that’s not possible, commit to spending some time in aquatic environments together. Help them learn to move their bodies in the water, practice kicking and floating, and discuss safe behaviours in and around the water.
When it comes to any kind of risky play, we need to be committed to examining our own relationship with dangerous elements to help kids establish safe boundaries.
If you’re terrified of the water yourself, children are most likely going to pick up on that and hold themselves back. Being overly fearful of the water is not a guarantee for safety, because there’s a good chance they could find themselves out of their depth one day with no idea how to respond. The last thing we want them to do is panic, as they’ll likely swallow water and get into even bigger trouble.
On the other hand, if you’re overconfident and modelling behaviours or activities that you wouldn’t want them to copy, then that’s worth reflecting on too. Likewise, if there are older kids around modelling unsafe behaviours, be sure to chat about this with children.
It’s important that they learn to listen to their gut, tune into what they feel their bodies can handle, and respect if their body says no.
Setting boundaries
Rather than lecturing them about the dangers and telling them what’s safe and what’s not on, we suggest taking a collaborative approach to get them involved in the boundary-setting process. Chances are they will respect these rules more easily if they feel they’ve played a role in creating them, and they’ll feel more confident enforcing these boundaries with their peers as well.
It’s also worthwhile considering some worst-case scenarios. Again, this is not about deliberately causing a fearful response, but it is about empowering children to look out for their own safety and know which boundaries they can push, and which need to be respected. If you missed our post on risk-assessing natural aquatic environments last week, click here to read it first before continuing.
Discussing water safety
Here are some basic water safety questions to explore together. And if you don’t know the answers yourself, then involve the kids in some research on good old Google before your next wild water adventure.
- How can we safely enter and exit the water?
- Where are we safe/unsafe in this environment?
- What could you do if you’re feeling scared or unsafe in this environment?
- If you’re in trouble, how are you going to get help?
- If your friend/sibling is in trouble, how can you help them without putting yourself at risk?
- Where are the closest lifeguards/emergency services?
- Are we sharing this space with other people doing different activities, like surfers, or with animals, such as jellyfish?
- Where do you think is a good place for us to set boundaries so that we can all feel safe and have fun? E.g. stay between the flags, don’t go around the bend in the river where we can’t see you, stay away from the edge of the rockpool where the waves crash. Consider discussing the consequences of breaching these boundaries beyond simply because they’re the rules.
- Why is it important that you always have an adult with you near the water?
- How can we be respectful of each other in this environment? Is it funny to push each other under the water, or to push someone in when they’re not ready?
- How deep is the water? Is it safe for us to jump in headfirst? Are there submerged objects or sharp rocks we can’t see?
- Do you think it’s safe to keep playing when you’re tired? What might happen if you don’t have the energy to swim back to safety? What could you do to look after yourself in this situation?
This is a lot to cover, especially if you’ve got some eager beavers and savvy swimmers who are keen to get wet, so this might be a conversation you need to have in stages, like over a few weeks in the lead-up to summer. There are also some great kids’ books that deal with water safety and plenty of online resources for parents and guardians to get informed.
If nothing else, remember the golden rule of water safety is NEVER SWIM ALONE.
Supervision is the best prevention. Repeat this golden rule with children often, praise them for remembering and repeat these questions as often as needed until they can recite the answers back to you without thinking.
And finally, learn how to resuscitate. First aid and CPR are a life skill, and if the worst happens, you’ll want to know you can do everything in your power to ensure the best possible outcome. Also consider having some first aid supplies on hand, cuts and grazes are common injuries when playing on slippery surfaces.
We know this can be a scary topic, but on the other side of fear is a whole world of possibilities, and a whole lot of fun.
We hope you feel a little more empowered to explore risky play with children in natural aquatic environments, and we’d love to hear from you and keep the conversations going on our socials @wildlings_forestschool.
Written by Ellen Nesbitt. Ellen is a nature play advocate and creative writer with a passion for helping families connect with the outdoors. She is dedicated to exploring ways to nurture children's creativity, independence, wellbeing and love for nature.