TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — As the weather heats up, Tucsonans are spending more time by the pool and with that comes safety concerns.
Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for kids younger than 14 years old.
The City of Tucson offers aquatics lessons for babies as young as 6 months old.
The Aquatics Program Manager, TJ Johnson, said the classes are filling up so quickly, they’re currently training 40 more instructors to add on more.
The skills they’re learning could be the difference between life or death.
“Nowadays it’s really dangerous with kids and pools and they’re really tempted to jump in the water every time they see water,” said Gabriela Franco.
Franco knows the stress that comes with kids by the pool but she said she feels more confident with her daughter attending these classes.
“If she does fall in the water, she knows how to get out of that situation,” said Franco.
Each day focuses on a new skill.
“Today was life jackets, yesterday was just watching the pool at all times when your kids are around the water and asking permission,” said instructor Kevan Didier.
The goal is for kids to feel less afraid of the water and to gain awareness at a young age.
“Having respect for the water whether it’s during a monsoon season in a wash somewhere or here at one of our facilities seeing how far you can go in the water and how far you should go in the water,” said TJ Johnson.
For more information on the swim lessons, click here.
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Faith Abercrombie is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before coming to KGUN, Faith worked as a videographer for the Phoenix Children's Hospital Foundation and as a reporter and producer on the youth suicide documentary, "Life is..." on Arizona PBS.
Share your story ideas with Faith by emailing faith.abercrombie@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
