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Swimming program is needed

To the Editor,

Drowning’s are responsible for more deaths among children age 1 to 4 than any other cause, except birth defects, reports Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

I am a mother of a 15-month-old baby girl. I enrolled her in the Aqua Babies class through Dream Big Swim Academy at Milsop Community Center.

First, I would like to share a couple facts. This is a survival class for babies. An adult/parent/guardian is in the water with their baby at all times.

Second, I want to explain the process my particular class has gone through. The instructor taught us (the adults) how to teach our babies when they need to hold their breath — not by putting them under water. This was Step 1. After that, the instructor taught us (the adults) how to teach our babies to kick, float, etc.

My daughter has been going to class since she was about 8 months old. Now I have taken her to pools and we have been to the ocean. She had fun playing in the water, When we go to Aqua Babies class she knows what is coming. She is there to learn. So when she has to do something she doesn’t want to do, like float on her back, she cries. Learning this will save her life if she is ever in that situation. So she cries but when she hears her cue, she will hold her breath and go under water without swallowing water or trying to breathe under water. She does what she needs to do to survive, those seconds she is holding her breath can save her life. That is what I am paying Dream Big Swim Academy for. That is why all of us parents are in this class…to save our child’s life.

So, to all the observers in the pool and watching from the stands, please quit judging and complaining. We want our children in theses classes. We choose to keep coming back week after week. If I felt that my daughter was being “tortured” or in any form of danger I would not bring her back.

And finally, I encourage the people on the Parks Board or running the Community Center who are receiving these “complaints” to talk to the parents paying for these classes. Please don’t make any decisions based on a couple of people watching from a distance.

Demetria Manos

Weirton

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