How Your Reaction Defines Their Future
Imagine with me for a second that you're walking on your pool deck, observing swim lessons, and you see a kid wander off the bench or let go of the wall and immediately start drowning. Active drowning, thrashing around, not able to get up. The instructor rushes over to catch the swimmer, lifts them out of the water, and the kid immediately starts screaming bloody murder.
Is your heart rate amped up? Are you fighting the urge to rush over and take over the situation?
Why This Happens
Most of our group lessons are filled with 3–6 year old beginners. A large portion of our classes is teaching Level One — what we call "Going underwater, and learning to put your face in the water with your body flat at the surface."
We use benches and the wall to let our participants stand safely or keep themselves above the water. Young people tend to bounce around and move a lot. Sometimes they fall off the benches or slip off the wall.
The Step-by-Step Response
What you do when they briefly fall under determines their reaction. Follow these four steps:
What NOT to Do
If instead you freak out and ask them if they're okay, or suggest reasons why they should be scared and terrified, you will get a lot of unnecessary tears. Swimmers that fall underwater will usually cry and freak out only if the instructor or parent does too. Generally they are stunned and surprised, but not afraid, when they briefly slip underwater.
If the teacher or parent reacts in a scary or terrified way, then they will too. Sometimes the swimmer will cry for a short while, which is fine. Follow the steps above, and you will likely avoid that full-on meltdown.
The Final Step: Communicate with Parents
Make certain that you give the parents the full breakdown of what happened, why, and how the instructor handled it. Do that, and you will have an ally on your side who will help encourage and gently push the swimmer to have a positive reaction to slipping underwater for a short moment. Your reaction will also dictate how the parent reacts when they bring up the conversation at home.
Your Turn
Tell me what you do with swimmers that accidentally fall underwater. Do you freak out too, or do you calmly lay the groundwork for safe swim lesson behavior and future underwater ventures with the instructor?
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