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[h1]Why Most Minority Kids Can't Swim[/h1] [h2]National Study Parental fear is the main reason many black and Latino children cannot swim[/h2]
With the summer swimming season upon us, USA Swimming, the governing body for competitive swimming, has released a sobering study that found most minority children don't know how to swim.
The study, of more than 2,000 children and parents in six cities from Boston to San Diego, found that nearly 70 percent of African American children and 58 percent of Hispanic children have little or no ability to swim, while the number of white children who cannot swim is a lower — but still troubling — 40 percent. Also, fewer than half the children who said they can swim have taken lessons with certified instructors, which means they may be overestimating their ability.
The strong implication of the study, compiled at the University of Memphis, is that a large percentage of minority children are in danger of drowning, something national statistics bear out. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, African American children age 5 to 14 drowned at 3.1 times the rate of white children between 2000 and 2006.
This is tragic, in part because it can be prevented.
The study found the overwhelming reason minority children are not given swimming lessons isn't high cost or lack of access to pools, but their parents' fear of the water.
Link
We were clowning my boy (who's from Jamaica) a few years back when we went to the island....he, and the rest of his family can't swim and they grew up about 100 feet from the beach. Dude won't go in the water without his floaties.....