Certified Survival Swimming Instructor
This article is based on an expert interview with Brad Hurvitz, conducted by wikiHow Staff Editors. Brad Hurvitz is a Certified Swimming Instructor for My Baby Swims, an adolescent swimming school based in La Jolla, California. Brad is trained as an Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) instructor with ISR's Self-Rescue® program. He specializes in training children aged six months to six years of age survival skills like floating on their back to breathe and swimming back to the wall, while also educating parents on how to better keep their kids safe. He has a Master of Business Administration from Oregon State University.
This article has been viewed 1,686 times.
Children love jumping into the water from the side of the pool, but is it actually safe? In this video, swim instructor Brad Hurvitz addresses some of the concerns you might have about your child jumping into the pool and offers tips on how to keep them safe while still letting them have fun.
Key Takeaways
- Jumping from the wall is fun for kids and usually safe, but there are some risks if they don’t jump correctly.
- To avoid injury, make sure your child jumps away from the wall.
- To be extra safe, stand in the pool and have them jump from the wall toward you.
Video Transcripts
Jumping from the wall can be fun for little kiddos to do, but if not done correctly, it can also be dangerous. The wall itself is likely cement or a hard fiberglass surface that you don't want to impact your child. I frequently see children doing a pencil jump going into the water feet first vertically, only inches away from the wall. The majority of the time everything goes well. The child is laughing and climbs back up and jumps again. There are times though when a child does not jump correctly, may slip on the wet ground, may go in at an angle, his or her head can hit the wall on the way down, or they might turn to grab the wall because the jump was not ideal. His or her chin can hit the wall and shatter several teeth. Make sure your child jumps away from the wall. This is often best achieved by jumping towards a parent.
