Every year, the Plainfield Division of Parks and Recreation offers free swimming lessons through the Make a Splash Foundation. Access to swimming lessons is especially important in a city like Plainfield, which has a large African American community, because, according to the Centers for Disease Control, 70% of black Americans don't know how to swim. There is a legacy here, partly tied up in the history of racism/segregation, when blacks were not allowed in public pools.
This Saturday, July 27, the division is teaming up with "I Rock Team Rashid" for a Special Event to benefit the Plainfield community. This event, named for Rashid Shabazz, who drowned in 2013 at the age of three, is the brainchild of Rashid's grandmother, Plainfield resident Michelle "Oohlala" Bryant, whose family has lost a total of five members to drowning. Michelle has turned her family's tragedies into an important learning moment for all the members of our community. Attendees of all ages will learn basic swim skills taught by certified instructors.
"I Rock Team Rashid" will take place at three of our municipal pools. The Swim Instruction portion will take place from 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm, followed by Open Swim from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Guest speakers at three of our municipal pools will talk about water safety and drowning (see the flier below for the specific times for each pool). For more information, contact Michelle at 908-391-1222. NOTE: The rain date is Saturday, August 3, 2019.
The article I posted below (from TakePart, written by Britni Danielle) is about a YMCA initiative, but it is relevant to our city. The article quotes the Centers for Disease Control, noting "...for black children the chances of drowning are 'significantly higher than those for whites and Hispanics at every age from five years through 18. While the risk of unintentional drowning persists throughout childhood, the age when black kids are most vulnerable is 10." Click on the title link if you want to copy and share the entire article.
Hannah Atkins Pool:
W. Third St. & Plainfield Ave.
Rushmore Pool:
W. Third St. & Rushmore Ave.
Seidler Pool:
341 Garfield Ave. (at North Ave.)
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| Photo: Lori Adamski Peek/Getty Images |
Summertime means barbecues, long sunny days, and cool dips in the nearest body of water. But for many Americans, swimming can quickly move from innocent summer fun to life-ending tragedy. With this in mind, the YMCA has embarked on an ambitious nationwide program that aims to teach thousands of kids how to stay safe.
“Swimming is a life skill,” says Janet Wright, the YMCA’sSafety Around Water national spokesperson and aquatics director at the organization’s North Philadelphia branch. “The Y has taken a national stand to talk about water safety and make sure everyone knows and understands that this is important, and it’s something that will help you for the rest of your life.”
The Safety Around Water program consists of eight 40-minute lessons that teach kids how to “jump, push, turn, grab, and swim, float, swim” if they ever find themselves in a pool, river, or lake. The program also makes sure kids learn two cardinal rules: Never swim alone, and never swim without a lifeguard present.
“We’re really trying to give them information about being safe,” Wright says. Her goal? To say to kids, “Don’t even put yourself in [an unsafe] situation because you don’t even know what can happen.”
So, Why Should You Care? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10 people die from unintentional drowning every single day, and for black children the chances of drowning are “significantly higher than those for whites and Hispanics at every age from five years through 18.” While the risk of unintentional drowning persists throughout childhood, the age when black kids are most vulnerable is 10.
Even when children follow Wright’s main rules—never swim alone or unattended—bad things can happen. On Monday, a black teenager, 14-year-old Brionne Sloan, almost became another unintentional drowning victim when hesank to the bottom of a public pool in DeKalb County, Georgia. Another swimmer was able to pull him up, but what happened next shocked everyone.
Although there were lifeguards, who were also black, on duty at the pool, Browns Mill Family Aquatic Center, none of them could allegedly swim in deep water or do CPR, something Sloan desperately needed.
“I saw three of the workers walking away, shaking their heads,” Sloan’s mother, Melissa, told a local news station, explaining that her son was unconscious, “completely blue,” and not moving.
The teen was rushed to a local hospital, where he remained in the ICU for several days before doctors were able to wean him off the ventilator and allow him to breathe on his own. He is lucky, as he doesn’t seem to have experienced any brain damage.
Sloan’s ordeal is not unique. In 2010, six black teenagers from two families drowned in Shreveport, Louisiana’s Red River while trying to save a friend. Sadly, the teens’ friends and family, who watched in horror as they drowned, couldn't save them—they couldn’t swim either.
While it’s often said jokingly that black folks don’t swim, that they drown at such an alarming rate is no laughing matter. It isn't just because black people hate the water. Though 70 percent of black folks can’t swim, lack of access to public pools and a history of segregated swimming have kept many of them out of the water.
“African Americans were not allowed to swim in the ’40s or ’50s, so if your grandparents didn’t know how to swim, then they didn’t teach your parents, and if your parents didn’t swim, then you might not be a swimmer,” Wright says. “So now it’s just about changing the mind-set at this point.”
The YMCA is hoping its water safety program will help. In addition to making sure young people don’t become drowning victims, the organization also hopes to get more kids of color into the pool. To further this aim, it is hoping to reach as many young people as possible by providing 13,000 scholarships for kids in low-income communities to participate in the class. It’s something the Y hopes both parents and kids will participate in.
“Please just come,” Wright says of the program. “I really can’t stress it enough.”
*This is an update of a blog post I wrote several years ago. It remains timely.
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