AT WHAT AGE SHOULD YOU ALLOW YOUR CHILDREN TO SWIM ALONE?

As we approach the final days of the school year, many kids are looking forward to beating the summer heat by taking a dip in a pool, lake, or even the ocean. Before you let your child swim alone, the experts weigh-in on what age you should allow them child to swim unsupervised. Picture of a child swimming. CANVA.COM Before we reveal the age where experts feel that it is “ok” to allow children to swim unsupervised, let’s take a look at some statistics. According to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drowning is the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 1 and 4-years-old. The data also shows that the amount of children who drowned rose 28% from 2019 to 2022. As we know, Black children are an extremely vulnerable population within these statistics as they are at higher risk for drowning. Per the CDC, Black children ages 5–19 are five times more likely to drown in a swimming pool than their white peers. Black children ages 11 and 12-years-old are 10 times more likely to drown. The CDC also states that African American children ages 10 to 14, drown in swimming...