Thirty children aged fourteen and under drowned in ten years, reflecting the need for constant, responsible supervision of children near water. Half a million primary school children are currently on Easter Holidays and may find themselves playing near water yet 90% of them may not know how to stay safe from drowning because they are not learning about water safety in the classroom. Irish Water Safety is calling on parents and schoolteachers to embrace its primary school curriculum so that children learn how to stay safe from drowning.
More primary schools need to embrace Irish Water Safety's non-mandatory Primary Aquatics Water Safety (PAWS) programme, a component of the primary school curriculum that teaches children how to stay safe around water. In a recent consumer research study commissioned by Irish Water Safety, only 35% of parents felt confident about the level of their children’s water safety knowledge yet there is still time before summer holidays to teach children the behaviours that will keep them safe from drowning. The free resources are available here: http://paws.iws.ie/
Water safety advice for your bank holiday safety:
Those boating and angling from shore should wear a properly fitting serviced lifejacket with crotch strap.
Be aware that we have a full moon on Saturday 31st March 2018. The associated spring tides increase the risk of stranding and tidal streams will be at their strongest over the weekend.
An IWS analysis showed that 62% of drownings occurred at inland water sites therefore walkers should stay well away from the edge of waterside pathways.
Another IWS analysis showed that a third of drowning victims had consumed alcohol therefore alcohol should not be consumed before any aquatic activities.
