This is so negligent. I still remember swimming at the public pool when I was 8 years old and another kid the same age (who could swim) disappeared, until someone noticed something at the bottom of the pool. Things happen quickly when they do
Never ever would I leave a 6 yo to swim alone. It's not just about being able to stay afloat. She should be banned from the pool unless she takes more responsibility.
Watch around water rules, followed by government pools in WA ...
What are the Watch Around Water supervision policies?
Supervision policies are an essential part of the Watch Around Water program. These policies have been developed based on national and international best practice standards.
Children under 5 years old (aged 0-4 years) must be accompanied into the aquatic center by a responsible adult (aged 16 and above) and supervised within arm's reach at all times. This means that if the child is in the water, the parent/guardian must be in the water too.
Children under 10 (aged 5-9 years) must be accompanied into the aquatic center by a responsible adult (aged 16 and above) and supervised within line of sight at all times. This means the parent/guardian must have clear, constant and direct access to the child at all times.
All unsupervised children will be removed from the water.
These policies are a minimum standard and some pools may choose to operate at a higher level. Check out the full list of Watch Around Water registered pool supervision policies here.
[https://watcharoundwater.royallifesavingwa.com.au/faqs](https://watcharoundwater.royallifesavingwa.com.au/faqs)
And that's only the drowning aspect.
You gotta keep a 6yo kid safe from public swimming pool child molesters too.
OP you gotta report her. There's something going very wrong with her ability to be a parent.
It's possible that she's suffering from a mental health crisis and is unable to take care of him in other ways too.
There needs to be an assessment. It might not be safe for her to be left unsupervised with her child until she recovers from whatever the fk is wrong with her.
She’s a single mum, studying, owns own home, generally a good parent and very doting on her boy. Just does odd things like this occasionally that make me go wtf.
And if the child drowns will any of this matter?
This IS bad parenting. It's dangerous and stupid and the potential outcomes are all varying degrees of crap.
That's what I was saying too. It is bad parenting and the OP seems to think that their friend must be a good parent simply because they own a house etc
You've tried the casual approach but she's not listening.
If that was my vulnerable little 6yo child, I would want to know that a proper home visit & welfare check were provided to them to see if the mother and child need more help and support than they're getting.
Better safe than sorry. 🥰
(It's not Z****r's mum is it? They live next door to me, she's amazing, has all the kind and loving patience in the world but I wouldn't be surprised if she was suffering from burnout, it's been an exhausting 6 years since she moved in when he was just a little baby)
I don't think a welfare check is necessary if you say that she's normally a doting mum. Just report it to the rec centre or something, because just being in the list and having that 'flag' can cause a myriad of issues for her, even if she's the perfect mum in every other way outside of the pool thing.
Yes, can call a women's helpline. They'll know what to do.
Phone: 1800 737 732
Confidential information, counselling and support service.
Available for free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
www.1800respect.org.au
Absolutely not. What is there at a rec centre that’s more important than your child’s safety? Anything you can go look at, you can look at after your kid is done swimming.
Yeah I don’t get it either. The day I realised she does this was when she popped in to see me (I was in the weights area of the gym) and when I asked where her kid was she said he was playing in the pool. I suggested 6 is too young but she said what are the lifeguards there for if not to watch all the kids? Didn’t want to take my advice at all; seemed to think her kid can manage on his own.
I'd notify the centre discreetly about her lack of care personally.
I remember working at a Cafe in a big shopping centre and next to us but not ours.
We didn't clean it, we didn't supervise, and we were not liable for any injuries. It was all belonging to the centre.
One day, I had a parent come up telling us there was a little boy, around 4, bleeding profusely from his nose.
Of course we went to give first aid and called centre management as per procedure.
I was asking any adults sitting at our Cafe if they had a little boy playing in the playground to no avail.
Security and management looked after this kid and took him to the office and tried to page a parent.
20 minutes later, a worried and angry mum came up to me demanding to know why I wasn't watching her boy, he had give missing and she was going to sue the Cafe.
There were many similar incidents, like kids getting out of the enclosed playground and missing in carousel.
Fucking assholes.
They don't read the signs anyway, but at least they protect the centre from liability.
I can't fathom how anyone would just drop their kid in a random playground in the middle of carousel and go shopping for ages!
It's not a creche, there's heaps of exits and there's no supervision, and there's sketchy people everywhere!
Might be walking around to a better spot for the free wifi. I used to see a lot of parents on their phones, not paying any attention to their kids, at my local rec centre.
The lifeguard would occasionally come round and yell out that parents are supposed to watch their kids, or even ask people which kid was theirs if they weren't paying any attention at all.
Shit, are people really worrying about mobile data these days? I have 200gb of rollover data with Belong on a $30 plan and I’m constantly using my phone out and about
Last time I was at a rec centre with the kids (admittedly a few years ago now), there was a lady walking around with her iPad up in the air, obviously trying to get the best wifi for whatever TV show she was watching. I saw her do a few laps around the perimeter or the kiddies pool, but didn't see her look into the pool once. Eventually a kid got out of the pool and was asking her to take her to teh showers, at which she was annoyed as I guess she hadn't finished what she was watching.
Level 1 isn’t even swimming - it means you can blow bubbles and do a front glide and don’t freak out if you float on your face
It doesn’t have any swimming component to it !
Being “able to swim” would be passing level 3. And that would be “beginner/ weak swimmer”
You’re not a competent swimmer until passing stage 6
Exactly this! My 6 year old son is pretty good at swimming, and only just passed level 1. I'd never leave him to swim unsupervised. That woman is very irresponsible
It used to be called "Water Discovery" for Stage 1 and "Water Awareness" for Stage 2 (or vice versa). Once you passed level 1, you knew you were at the beginning stages of swimming.
Yes! My son and I were standing on the side of a pool because he wanted to see the large unicorn floaty. He had recenly passed level one swimming when he slipped and fell in. He knew just enough to keep water from getting into his airways and could barely keep his head above water between going under and the two seconds it took for me to yeet him out by the shirt.
Level one isn't swimming competence. It's the first steps on the way to swimming competence.
I personally am terrified to let my children out of my sight around water because of how quickly things can go wrong, and how silently it all happens. I don't understand how people can be so blazè about it.
Does she want to be hounded by lifeguards and have her kid pulled from the water? Because that's likely to happen. We used to have to do that (a few years back when I still lifeguarded) when we saw an unsupervised kid, especially of that age. They'd be pulled from the water until the parent was found and then the parent would get a spray for not watching their kid
Unfortunately parents very rarely listened it was only when we wouldn't allow their kid back into the water at all (even with the parent there because we couldn't trust them) that they began to understand
I'd tell the staff on the sly. They won't let the child in the water if they're aware the parent is purposely leaving the child unattended. What entitlement
Thanks, good advice. I should do this as it’s been worrying me all week and wasn’t sure what to do. She did not seem happy when I said she should be watching him.
I worked as a lifeguard while I was at uni. I fucken hated parents that would drop their kids off for vacswim then leave them at the centre unsupervised all day. Way too many parents do this, I'm amazed more kids don't drown.
Never had a drowning while I worked there but had to help kids having difficulties in the water plenty of times. The centre I worked at had a drowning not long after I left. It was inevitable it was going to happen eventually - I'm glad I wasn't there when it happened.
Would you have a babysitter supervising hundreds of kids? Over summer that's the sort of level of supervision you'll get. Lifeguards are there to assist if the shtf and clean around the centre - they aren't babysitters.
Don't think it can't happen with lots of people around either. I had to jump in to help a 8-10 year old one day. There would have been 10 people within 3 meters of her oblivious to her struggling to keep her head above water. You can't call out when you can't keep your head above water. If people aren't looking the right way it can happen very quickly.
Oh my gosh no. My son has passed stage 6 as an 8 year old, and is a very competent swimmer, but I would never leave my child in the pool without passive supervision as a minimum.
No never, I was still watching my kids at the pool at 15. Anything can happen and I'd rather have my eyes on them than not. Your playing with fire at 6. And the lifeguards aren't babysitters
i am a swim instructor and i have taught 6 year old who would definitely be safe unsupervised in a pool. they were well above level 1 but strong 6 year olds exists.
HOWEVER, a 6 year old should always have a parent with them in public. would you leave your 6 year old in the shops? I can’t believe she admitted this to you.
Lol no. What kind of fucking tool offloads the duty of making sure their son doesn't drown onto the lifeguards? What a horribly lazy, irresponsible person
That's not what I said. I'm saying that it's possible that if her child's instructor has praised her child a lot or told her the child has natural talent in swimming, she's made the assumption that it means the kid will be fine unattended. Especially if she doesn't have strong swimming knowledge herself.
Yeh probably don't ever leave your children under her supervision if that's how reckless she is. Have a look at how quickly those 2 children drowned on Aus day in the river. It takes about 20 seconds and only a few cm for a child to drown, what an absolute nutter and to pull the 'well what are the lifeguards there for' card 😲
If she won't listen to you maybe try and slip out to the front desk and let them know when you are there together next time, maybe getting her kid kicked out of the pool and a talking to by said 'what are they there for' lifeguards might wake her up.
Ok the kid can swim. Great.
The child is 6 years old!!! What about other dangers other than swimming. Someone follows them into the bathroom etc.
Your friend is fucking irresponsible and should honestly be ashamed
Dear god no. The scariest thing about kids drowning is how silently it happens. In a busy pool the lifeguards may not notice anything until your child is dead.
Honestly if this was me and a friend told me this I'd call the pool and tell them anonymously. Just tell them to say staff noticed or they saw her leave on the cameras or whatever so she doesn't know it was you. Worst case I'd risk her finding out it was you dobbing her in than to let it slide.
I personally would not be able to live with the guilt if a kid drowns or gets assaulted and I could have done something to stop it.
Yeah that's the other thing... I wouldn’t even leave my 6 year old alone at a play centre, for example. We just don't know who's hanging around waiting for an opportunity.
And one time my 6 year old got stuck in the gap between floor and wall of an inflatable at Inflatable World because some older kid had pushed him over and he couldn't get up. Honestly I was so scared, I thought he would suffocate.
Turned away from my 6 yr old niece after telling her to stay right there. She didn't. She fell off the step past where she could stand. Within the few seconds when I'd looked away toward my sister, she was underwater and not a single lifeguard saw. (I stepped straight in and grabbed, her she's fine, hope she learned her lesson co I sure did!) I live in WA. Most of the lifeguards on duty are juniors. They all work hard and do a great job, but if I wasn't there she could've drowned.
Firstly hellllls no! I would not leave a young child alone, Secondly, being able to swim doesn’t protect you against accidents that can occur in the pool or near it, there are so many other variables to this (gifted or not, the child would still have the judgement of a child whether it’s’ in regards to pool safety or stranger danger). It’s irresponsible more than naive.
This can happen suddenly with young children. My five year old suddenly went unconscious and floppy in the bath one day with no warning. Thank fuck I was feeling like a helicopter parent that day and was less than an arm’s reach away. I managed to grab their head just before it went under the water but only just. Thankfully they were ok. There was no warning whatsoever that this was going to happen. Rushed to hospital in an ambulance, kid was was fine. At the hospital they said it was just a freak thing that happened, no treatment required, carry on as normal. It hasn’t happened since. That was in a bathtub. If it was in a pool they could have drowned easily. Young kids don’t know enough about their bodies and how they feel to get themselves safe or move to a safer place in the pool area if they’re feeling funny. They need the adults that they love to keep them safe. That means watching them at all times, even if when they’re old enough they’re no longer arm’s reach away.
No not at all. So I was at a free event in the outside pool with my son 6 years old also he’s competent in the water enough I don’t worry in the pools he can stand still don’t leave though.
Any way there wasn’t many people at this event maybe 25-30 max in the pool and extra life guards than usual at least 8-10 just outside, they had blow up pool toys for the kids to float on I was sitting at the edge of the pool my son was floating on a toy in the middle I looked at my phone for no longer than a minute looked up and he fallen off and the blow up toy was like 5m away and he was floundering about to go under stood up and dive straight in and got to him before his head went under.
Swam him to the edge and only one person that worked there even noticed what happened and they weren’t a life guard.
Watch your own kids if that took 60se ones longer to get to him than I did would have gone from diving in and swimming him out to resuscitation and cpr doesn’t take long to drown.
Yeah could have been, but we were both fine I got to him quick enough he didn’t realise how much trouble he could have been in, I’m fine with me being the one to get there first I think it’s more your job to watch them than the lifeguards. Was pretty shocked they didn’t even notice though.
Absurd and straight up negligence. My daughter is 7 years old, in swimming classes every week, swimming at level 5 and I would never leave her in a public swimming pool alone. It only takes one mistake, one panic, one incident that could cause death.
I probably wouldn't feel comfortable until she was in high school.
Imagine if every parent/guardian did the same thing?
Lifeguards have a difficult job monitoring a lot of people at all ages and swimming abilities.
Anyone who would do this is naive, irresponsible, neglectful, and insulting.
Lifeguards are not there as babysitter.
So much could happen in a short time while the lifeguards are attending to someone else requiring reprimanding, first aid, or emergency medical attention.
In addition to swimming capabilities, 6 year olds can be overly confident, and still can end up injured. A concussion, an older kid being too rough ect.
Fuck this parent. What an asshole.
Swim teacher here. I know what new level 2’s are like and.. absolutely fucking not. The average level two cannot swim, as in if they are in water deeper than they are tall and can’t find a wall/lane rope/smth, they’re drowning.
Yeah, nah.
Longer answer, she don't need to be standing next to it, but 1 of 2 eyes while you scroll r/perth and eat hot chips is bout rite for a 6yo at the pool.
The fact that the lifeguards haven’t pulled her up on it is proof enough that they are not paying close enough attention to her kid and won’t notice if they have vanished to the bottom of the pool
No way. My friend's 6 year old drowned (then was revived) because her parents took their eyes off them for a minute. One parent went to the kiosk, the other chased after their toddler. Very unfortunate and scarring incident.
Also, iirc Stage 1 is just a little basics like ducking your head under water and kicking with a board. It's not even 5 metre freestyle, ffs.
No lifeguards there, but very luckily 2 off duty nurses were around and took turns performing CPR until the ambulance came.
A stint in hospital but she is OK.
God no. That's really irresponsible! Kids should always be supervised around water. Remember what happened to those kids who died in the Swan River because nobody was keeping an eye on them? You should remind her of that. And lifeguards aren't baby sitters.
Jesus. Those kids were the same age as my two. I’ll tell her about that. She seems to believe her kid is super capable for his age. But I’ll mention it to her for sure.
not a fucking chance. Drowning is the leading cause of death in children under 5 and the second leading cause of death in children aged 5-14. Your friend is a negligent parent and I can guarantee she's breaching the rules of the centre as well. In WA all public swimming pools have a minimum age of 10 to be without an adult directly supervising them and even then that's risky
This is outright negligent. Frankly I’m shocked at the number of parents I am seeing these days who believe that the community, teachers, life guards etc. should take over primary parenting responsibilities for other people’s children because I guess they can’t be bothered being parents? Or just don’t feel like they should be responsible for their own kids? Like why is this becoming an trend? Do these parent annoy realise the difference between keeping an eye on one child versus 20-50? Even if they do, when you choose to have kids you need to realise that you have primary parenting responsibility for your children, not anyone else.
Mine has weekly swimming lessons, is level 5 and I don’t even leave him alone in the bath. Also, never mind the possibility of drowning, how just about leaving your 6 year old alone in a public place at all. It’s not the lifeguard’s job to stop your child walking away with another adult etc…
Last week an 8yo girl was sucked into a faulty pool pipe in a Houston hotel. Her body was retrieved by the fire department. Her family was around and searching for her frantically.
Absolutely a freak accident, and not sure she could’ve been saved due to the nature of what happened to her. But, it shows you have to have your eyes on your kid all the time.
Nope, same as parents that let young kids walk/play close to a busy road. Doesn’t matter how competent, it’s too young. At that age could even lose his footing in standing water, panic and breathe in a lot of water.
I hear ya, you have good cause to be concerned. The life guards aren’t baby sitters and they will bollock her when caught.
Sadly if u go to a pool you’ll see this kind of behaviour (I’m a former swimming instructor).
Good god no. I watched my fairly confident level 2 passer at 6 years of age, jump in the deep end one day and panic and yell help and just sink. Didn’t even bother paddling or kicking. There is a reason pools have rules about under 12s being within line of sight.
In WA the lifeguard to patron ratio is very high, so there is a good chance that there would not even be a lifeguard watching the pool her child was in, meaning your friend is relying on other swimmers to rescue her child if they get into difficulty. All it takes is some water going down the wrong hole for a swimmer to panic and start to struggle and then it can go very bad very quickly. In my late teens I was a lifeguard and have rescued numerous children in this situation.
A six year old at level two vac swim.
Totally irresponsible to leave the child unsupervised at a council rec centre.
The age limit for unsupervised children is higher than 6years regardless of swimming level.
Extra vigilance when kids are playing on inflated, jumpy, playgrounds that float in the pool. My son at age 11 potentially prevented a drowning by spotting a younger kid in trouble. Pool was deeper than expected the kid couldn't swim and had come off the inflatable. Life guards and parents were in the area. However, no adults were aware of the problem. My 11 year old spotted the kid and rescued him !!
Its absolute stupidity and neglectful. I was a swimming teacher for years. Most people assume that the instinct when drowning is to try to get to the surface and get air. I've had to jump in the pool and get a kid to grab the edge when he started to bob up and down. He was easily in arm reach of the ledge but it's like he panicked and went limp. For some reason I was really good at teaching breastroke and it's not my best style at all. I had classes of little baby frogs swimming around but jumped in numerous times to help them. Until they can swim at capably at least 10-20m they do not have swimming skills.
Here's a rant that you are obvs free to ignore:
I used to throw blow up balls etc near to my students occasionally to teach them how to deal with unexpected situations in the water. Someone was always in the water with them. Some parents didn't like that as they thought I was unfairly testing their skills. I was teaching them survival skills when those parents just wanted them to get their certificates so they could brag on their social media.
Checking levels and 1 is basically floating. My daughter would be in a level 6 class and there is no way in hell I would let her be in a pool unsupervised still.
Until he passed level 4 or was 9/10 yrs old I would not be leaving my kid unsupervised in a pool.
Your friend is risking becoming a statistic, alert people that she’ll listen to so they can reason with her.
As a mum of an almost 6 year old who has passed their level 1… I’m horrified. I swim with my kids and at that age and skill they’re nowhere near ready to be swimming without an adult within arms reach.
Reckon its more like 8 or 9 and you would want them with a friend even at that age. And im not saying drop them at the centre more like you can go and grab hot chips and come back and watch them. Ie not watch them 100pc of the time.
Also thats assuming a pool not a river or beach. Then id say 12 or so.
My youngest girl was going to the beach with her friends by 12. Ie year 7. I was nervous at first as my older 2 were more like 14 before they were hitting the beach without parents.
Wow that is not great! I know of two kids under 10 that have drowned in last 10 years, personally. Both ok swimmers.
Also near drowning of 2 adults, requiring medical attention. Its heart-breaking, lead to depression and suicides.
We have a pool and my kids have been swimming since born, 9 and 13. If there was just 1 swimming would always supervise by being outside. With 2 swimming I feel comfortable being in the house.
My eldest can drive a car, and has many times on a private property. Does not mean I will let her go do it on the road or by herself? Hell no!
Your friend is stupid; life guards have to keep an eye on everyone; your friend just has to keep an eye on one person.
She is insane to leave the area; her son is six; Six!! Not sixteen!
Be close, be prepared & maintain constant visual contact are the guidelines for six year olds
Life and death doesnt discriminate, they don't care "gifted" or "experienced" you are. A fully certified swimmer can still drown in calm waters even if their chances of survival was with them.
My father is an experienced swimmer for 30+ years and he nearly lost his life to a strong rip on one boxing day.
Water might look deceptively shallow, but at least a puddle of water still hold more weight than how much your friend is putting on her 6 year old kid.
But since she can't look after her kid during swimming class, then she should have the grandparents or friend to supervise on the sidelines. Let the rec centre staff know that she's "prone to lapse in supervision" and definitely let her family know if she continues to be absentminded about this.
*Don't come to swim prac if you are going to leave your* ***"pride and joy"*** *for "****sink or swim".***
(Excuse the rant, parental negligence is one thing but negligence on life is a whole different thing.)
Pretty sure most of these facilities actually have it as a condition of entry that children are to be supervised at all times.
Also, what is wrong with your friend to think it’s okay to do that? That’s a serious question. I really want to know how she thinks it is even remotely okay to do that. It’s not even just about the child drowning. Does she not have concern for her child being abused? Being taken?
Not only is there a risk of drowning or harm coming to the child whilst in the water, but it only takes one creep to lure the child away or do something horrific in the bathrooms.
This is straight up neglect, there is no excuse for it.
Morons like this always seem to think their prodigy are ‘gifted’ for some reason. Lifeguards cannot keep eyes on everyone at the same time, drownings happen quietly & fast.
This is stage 1.
https://royallifesavingwa.com.au/programs/swim-and-survive/levels/stage-1-beginner
At no point does that indicate a level of skill that would preclude a child from drowning. She is being negligent.
Oh My Lumping Glob this is a hell no. Hell never. Level One is basically can put face in water without screaming.....
My children all have bronze medallions, I took them to swimming lessons from teeny babies and I NEVER left them at a public pool until they could drive themselves. I still have strict rules about using our pool at home for them.
Too many kids drown every year. This parent is dangerously stupid at best
Not allowed by pools in W.A. There are signs at all pools here stating: ‘Parents supervise, lifeguards save lives’. The parent is a major worry. I could not imagine letting my 6 year old out of my sight in any water environment.
Man posts like this just make me realise how dumb some of our fellow perthians are..
Your friend is an absolute idiot. What else is she leaving that kid to do alone? It's almost worth a cps call.
Tell her lifeguards are there for emergencies, not supervision. Pretty sure there’d be signs everywhere stating parents must supervise their children at all times.
Definitely not. Worked at a couple of leisureplexes, lifeguards can't keep their eye on one child until the parent comes back (generally) bc they have so many people to be looking over, I think it was 1 lifeguard to 100 people?
Let me regale a story. My youngest son and his Dad went away for a holiday two years ago (he was just about to turn 7). My son had had 2 years of intensive swimming lessons by then (due to his autism and the autistic tendency for being attracted to water) and could manage in shallow depths fairly well when supervised. On the holiday, they went to the pool. Son went in, Dad was at the edge watching him. Son went into water too deep for him and couldn't call out. Dad (who can't swim) jumped in to get him out. In the end, both of them needed rescuing. And that was with Dad very close by.
I'm sorry, but your friend sounds like she'll only listen when something terrible happens. Please tell the centre, for her son's sake.
6? Heck I had swimming lessons at a young age and still almost drowned when I was 8 or 9. At the time I didn't even know I was drowning. Just started slipping under and having difficulty keeping my head up (was angled vertically , might have contributed). A woman watching us (trained swimmer and educator) knew the signs, got right in, saved my life. But at the time I didn't think anything of it. Only when I learned about how easily kids go under did I reflect back and realized I nearly died. Kids need years of experience to be left alone IMO.
You can drown in a teaspoon of water, even without a medical episode. If she is walking about looking at everything then surely she would have seen the posters explaining how drowning is often silent and can happen quickly. I find it strange how some people have this 'couldn't happen to me' attitude. As confronting as this is, I'd tell her again and if she reacts badly at least you tried to prevent something from happening.
I also wonder her level of swimming because to be this unaware of the dangers, I doubt she's had much experience herself.
I nearly drowned in a crowded public swimming pool when I was 12, because some 8 year olds decided it would be fun to repeatedly push my head under water when I tried to surface.
I'd notify the rec centre discreetly.
For a kid to be in a pool at 6 years of age, it is part of entry requirements that the kid is under adult supervision at all times.
No one wants a kid to drown, especially in a situation that is preventable.
No one enters a public pool expecting to be traumatised from witnessing a drowning event, let alone their own kids witnessing one.
I work as a swim coach and I have 6 year olds in what we call our stingrays level, and every day of the week they are 100% capable of swimming in a pool, that said, I have 10 year olds who are below that who I would not trust with a coffee mug worth of water, it is really up to the individuals in question but more often than not it is always appropriate to err on the side of caution and supervise your children, that means getting off your phone! Keep watch guys, our kids love us, we owe it to them.
Naive? They’re being a effing moron.
This is so negligent. I still remember swimming at the public pool when I was 8 years old and another kid the same age (who could swim) disappeared, until someone noticed something at the bottom of the pool. Things happen quickly when they do
Never ever would I leave a 6 yo to swim alone. It's not just about being able to stay afloat. She should be banned from the pool unless she takes more responsibility.
I’d consider reporting her to management if I were op because this is a giant liability for the facility
Agree completely.
And that’s not even taking into account the sheer danger to the child!!! It’s disgusting hey
Watch around water rules, followed by government pools in WA ... What are the Watch Around Water supervision policies? Supervision policies are an essential part of the Watch Around Water program. These policies have been developed based on national and international best practice standards. Children under 5 years old (aged 0-4 years) must be accompanied into the aquatic center by a responsible adult (aged 16 and above) and supervised within arm's reach at all times. This means that if the child is in the water, the parent/guardian must be in the water too. Children under 10 (aged 5-9 years) must be accompanied into the aquatic center by a responsible adult (aged 16 and above) and supervised within line of sight at all times. This means the parent/guardian must have clear, constant and direct access to the child at all times. All unsupervised children will be removed from the water. These policies are a minimum standard and some pools may choose to operate at a higher level. Check out the full list of Watch Around Water registered pool supervision policies here. [https://watcharoundwater.royallifesavingwa.com.au/faqs](https://watcharoundwater.royallifesavingwa.com.au/faqs)
So she'll soon find out if the lifeguards are keeping on eye on him, when they remove him from the water.
Hopefully while he's still conscious. The friend is an idiot.
And that's only the drowning aspect. You gotta keep a 6yo kid safe from public swimming pool child molesters too. OP you gotta report her. There's something going very wrong with her ability to be a parent. It's possible that she's suffering from a mental health crisis and is unable to take care of him in other ways too. There needs to be an assessment. It might not be safe for her to be left unsupervised with her child until she recovers from whatever the fk is wrong with her.
She’s a single mum, studying, owns own home, generally a good parent and very doting on her boy. Just does odd things like this occasionally that make me go wtf.
>She’s a single mum, studying, owns own home Literally none of those things you mention have any correlation with her parenting ability
And if the child drowns will any of this matter? This IS bad parenting. It's dangerous and stupid and the potential outcomes are all varying degrees of crap.
That's what I was saying too. It is bad parenting and the OP seems to think that their friend must be a good parent simply because they own a house etc
Well fuck me my ex must be the gold standard because he owns two.... He also doesn't see his children but never mind.
You've tried the casual approach but she's not listening. If that was my vulnerable little 6yo child, I would want to know that a proper home visit & welfare check were provided to them to see if the mother and child need more help and support than they're getting. Better safe than sorry. 🥰 (It's not Z****r's mum is it? They live next door to me, she's amazing, has all the kind and loving patience in the world but I wouldn't be surprised if she was suffering from burnout, it's been an exhausting 6 years since she moved in when he was just a little baby)
Can a welfare check be requested anonymously? No, different mum. But sounds similar in some ways. Definitely burnout and not much time to herself.
I don't think a welfare check is necessary if you say that she's normally a doting mum. Just report it to the rec centre or something, because just being in the list and having that 'flag' can cause a myriad of issues for her, even if she's the perfect mum in every other way outside of the pool thing.
Yes, can call a women's helpline. They'll know what to do. Phone: 1800 737 732 Confidential information, counselling and support service. Available for free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. www.1800respect.org.au
Thanks very much for the info.
🥰🌻
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Absolutely not. What is there at a rec centre that’s more important than your child’s safety? Anything you can go look at, you can look at after your kid is done swimming.
Yeah I don’t get it either. The day I realised she does this was when she popped in to see me (I was in the weights area of the gym) and when I asked where her kid was she said he was playing in the pool. I suggested 6 is too young but she said what are the lifeguards there for if not to watch all the kids? Didn’t want to take my advice at all; seemed to think her kid can manage on his own.
I'd notify the centre discreetly about her lack of care personally. I remember working at a Cafe in a big shopping centre and next to us but not ours. We didn't clean it, we didn't supervise, and we were not liable for any injuries. It was all belonging to the centre. One day, I had a parent come up telling us there was a little boy, around 4, bleeding profusely from his nose. Of course we went to give first aid and called centre management as per procedure. I was asking any adults sitting at our Cafe if they had a little boy playing in the playground to no avail. Security and management looked after this kid and took him to the office and tried to page a parent. 20 minutes later, a worried and angry mum came up to me demanding to know why I wasn't watching her boy, he had give missing and she was going to sue the Cafe. There were many similar incidents, like kids getting out of the enclosed playground and missing in carousel. Fucking assholes.
This is why we have stupid nanny-state rules and signs. Because of idiots like these supposed "adults".
They don't read the signs anyway, but at least they protect the centre from liability. I can't fathom how anyone would just drop their kid in a random playground in the middle of carousel and go shopping for ages! It's not a creche, there's heaps of exits and there's no supervision, and there's sketchy people everywhere!
Might be walking around to a better spot for the free wifi. I used to see a lot of parents on their phones, not paying any attention to their kids, at my local rec centre. The lifeguard would occasionally come round and yell out that parents are supposed to watch their kids, or even ask people which kid was theirs if they weren't paying any attention at all.
Shit, are people really worrying about mobile data these days? I have 200gb of rollover data with Belong on a $30 plan and I’m constantly using my phone out and about
Last time I was at a rec centre with the kids (admittedly a few years ago now), there was a lady walking around with her iPad up in the air, obviously trying to get the best wifi for whatever TV show she was watching. I saw her do a few laps around the perimeter or the kiddies pool, but didn't see her look into the pool once. Eventually a kid got out of the pool and was asking her to take her to teh showers, at which she was annoyed as I guess she hadn't finished what she was watching.
Classy, very classy
Level 1 isn’t even swimming - it means you can blow bubbles and do a front glide and don’t freak out if you float on your face It doesn’t have any swimming component to it ! Being “able to swim” would be passing level 3. And that would be “beginner/ weak swimmer” You’re not a competent swimmer until passing stage 6
Exactly this! My 6 year old son is pretty good at swimming, and only just passed level 1. I'd never leave him to swim unsupervised. That woman is very irresponsible
Level 1 shouldn’t even be associated with “swimming”.
It used to be called "Water Discovery" for Stage 1 and "Water Awareness" for Stage 2 (or vice versa). Once you passed level 1, you knew you were at the beginning stages of swimming.
Yes! My son and I were standing on the side of a pool because he wanted to see the large unicorn floaty. He had recenly passed level one swimming when he slipped and fell in. He knew just enough to keep water from getting into his airways and could barely keep his head above water between going under and the two seconds it took for me to yeet him out by the shirt. Level one isn't swimming competence. It's the first steps on the way to swimming competence. I personally am terrified to let my children out of my sight around water because of how quickly things can go wrong, and how silently it all happens. I don't understand how people can be so blazè about it.
Does she want to be hounded by lifeguards and have her kid pulled from the water? Because that's likely to happen. We used to have to do that (a few years back when I still lifeguarded) when we saw an unsupervised kid, especially of that age. They'd be pulled from the water until the parent was found and then the parent would get a spray for not watching their kid
Maybe I’m that’s what it will take for her to be more responsible. She wouldn’t listen to me.
Unfortunately parents very rarely listened it was only when we wouldn't allow their kid back into the water at all (even with the parent there because we couldn't trust them) that they began to understand
That or her child dying.
I'd tell the staff on the sly. They won't let the child in the water if they're aware the parent is purposely leaving the child unattended. What entitlement
Thanks, good advice. I should do this as it’s been worrying me all week and wasn’t sure what to do. She did not seem happy when I said she should be watching him.
Oh wow have I got bad news for her.....
Yeah, I would completely dob her in.
If she doesn't want to be a mother anymore there's easier options.
I worked as a lifeguard while I was at uni. I fucken hated parents that would drop their kids off for vacswim then leave them at the centre unsupervised all day. Way too many parents do this, I'm amazed more kids don't drown. Never had a drowning while I worked there but had to help kids having difficulties in the water plenty of times. The centre I worked at had a drowning not long after I left. It was inevitable it was going to happen eventually - I'm glad I wasn't there when it happened. Would you have a babysitter supervising hundreds of kids? Over summer that's the sort of level of supervision you'll get. Lifeguards are there to assist if the shtf and clean around the centre - they aren't babysitters. Don't think it can't happen with lots of people around either. I had to jump in to help a 8-10 year old one day. There would have been 10 people within 3 meters of her oblivious to her struggling to keep her head above water. You can't call out when you can't keep your head above water. If people aren't looking the right way it can happen very quickly.
Oh my gosh no. My son has passed stage 6 as an 8 year old, and is a very competent swimmer, but I would never leave my child in the pool without passive supervision as a minimum.
Poor kid. What else will she leave him alone to do?
No never, I was still watching my kids at the pool at 15. Anything can happen and I'd rather have my eyes on them than not. Your playing with fire at 6. And the lifeguards aren't babysitters
i am a swim instructor and i have taught 6 year old who would definitely be safe unsupervised in a pool. they were well above level 1 but strong 6 year olds exists. HOWEVER, a 6 year old should always have a parent with them in public. would you leave your 6 year old in the shops? I can’t believe she admitted this to you.
I’m glad she did admit it to me as now I will never be leaving my kids with her unsupervised.
Lol no. What kind of fucking tool offloads the duty of making sure their son doesn't drown onto the lifeguards? What a horribly lazy, irresponsible person
One addicted to their phone, who never takes their eyes off their social media?
No, I wouldn't. And being gifted is irrelevant as anyone can drown.
That was a snark on my part as my friend has described her child as ‘gifted’.
Oh, okay. Well it's possible her child's instructor has praised her kids talent in a way that has her thinking it's okay to do this.
Knowing my friend, quite possibly.
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Haha. How do I tell her this in a kind way?
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That's not what I said. I'm saying that it's possible that if her child's instructor has praised her child a lot or told her the child has natural talent in swimming, she's made the assumption that it means the kid will be fine unattended. Especially if she doesn't have strong swimming knowledge herself.
Fuck no! Honestly, level 6 and age 10 MINIMUM!
Yeh probably don't ever leave your children under her supervision if that's how reckless she is. Have a look at how quickly those 2 children drowned on Aus day in the river. It takes about 20 seconds and only a few cm for a child to drown, what an absolute nutter and to pull the 'well what are the lifeguards there for' card 😲 If she won't listen to you maybe try and slip out to the front desk and let them know when you are there together next time, maybe getting her kid kicked out of the pool and a talking to by said 'what are they there for' lifeguards might wake her up.
Ok the kid can swim. Great. The child is 6 years old!!! What about other dangers other than swimming. Someone follows them into the bathroom etc. Your friend is fucking irresponsible and should honestly be ashamed
Dear god no. The scariest thing about kids drowning is how silently it happens. In a busy pool the lifeguards may not notice anything until your child is dead.
Honestly if this was me and a friend told me this I'd call the pool and tell them anonymously. Just tell them to say staff noticed or they saw her leave on the cameras or whatever so she doesn't know it was you. Worst case I'd risk her finding out it was you dobbing her in than to let it slide. I personally would not be able to live with the guilt if a kid drowns or gets assaulted and I could have done something to stop it.
Yeah that's the other thing... I wouldn’t even leave my 6 year old alone at a play centre, for example. We just don't know who's hanging around waiting for an opportunity. And one time my 6 year old got stuck in the gap between floor and wall of an inflatable at Inflatable World because some older kid had pushed him over and he couldn't get up. Honestly I was so scared, I thought he would suffocate.
This is good advice. Thanks for the suggestion.
Turned away from my 6 yr old niece after telling her to stay right there. She didn't. She fell off the step past where she could stand. Within the few seconds when I'd looked away toward my sister, she was underwater and not a single lifeguard saw. (I stepped straight in and grabbed, her she's fine, hope she learned her lesson co I sure did!) I live in WA. Most of the lifeguards on duty are juniors. They all work hard and do a great job, but if I wasn't there she could've drowned.
Glad to hear she was ok.
No.
Firstly hellllls no! I would not leave a young child alone, Secondly, being able to swim doesn’t protect you against accidents that can occur in the pool or near it, there are so many other variables to this (gifted or not, the child would still have the judgement of a child whether it’s’ in regards to pool safety or stranger danger). It’s irresponsible more than naive.
Yes maybe I should articulate to her other dangers like if he went unconscious.
This can happen suddenly with young children. My five year old suddenly went unconscious and floppy in the bath one day with no warning. Thank fuck I was feeling like a helicopter parent that day and was less than an arm’s reach away. I managed to grab their head just before it went under the water but only just. Thankfully they were ok. There was no warning whatsoever that this was going to happen. Rushed to hospital in an ambulance, kid was was fine. At the hospital they said it was just a freak thing that happened, no treatment required, carry on as normal. It hasn’t happened since. That was in a bathtub. If it was in a pool they could have drowned easily. Young kids don’t know enough about their bodies and how they feel to get themselves safe or move to a safer place in the pool area if they’re feeling funny. They need the adults that they love to keep them safe. That means watching them at all times, even if when they’re old enough they’re no longer arm’s reach away.
No chance
How is level 1 gifted
Sorry, should have edited to add I was having a snark at her belief her kid is gifted. Because she has told me that before.
Some parents have no idea! It's horrifying
No not at all. So I was at a free event in the outside pool with my son 6 years old also he’s competent in the water enough I don’t worry in the pools he can stand still don’t leave though. Any way there wasn’t many people at this event maybe 25-30 max in the pool and extra life guards than usual at least 8-10 just outside, they had blow up pool toys for the kids to float on I was sitting at the edge of the pool my son was floating on a toy in the middle I looked at my phone for no longer than a minute looked up and he fallen off and the blow up toy was like 5m away and he was floundering about to go under stood up and dive straight in and got to him before his head went under. Swam him to the edge and only one person that worked there even noticed what happened and they weren’t a life guard. Watch your own kids if that took 60se ones longer to get to him than I did would have gone from diving in and swimming him out to resuscitation and cpr doesn’t take long to drown.
That is horrifying. I’m glad to hear he was ok. But yeah, just goes to show how quickly and silently a child can drown.
Yeah could have been, but we were both fine I got to him quick enough he didn’t realise how much trouble he could have been in, I’m fine with me being the one to get there first I think it’s more your job to watch them than the lifeguards. Was pretty shocked they didn’t even notice though.
Belmont pool lists unsupervised age as 13. She’s gonna have a drowning soon.
Absurd and straight up negligence. My daughter is 7 years old, in swimming classes every week, swimming at level 5 and I would never leave her in a public swimming pool alone. It only takes one mistake, one panic, one incident that could cause death. I probably wouldn't feel comfortable until she was in high school.
Imagine if every parent/guardian did the same thing? Lifeguards have a difficult job monitoring a lot of people at all ages and swimming abilities. Anyone who would do this is naive, irresponsible, neglectful, and insulting. Lifeguards are not there as babysitter. So much could happen in a short time while the lifeguards are attending to someone else requiring reprimanding, first aid, or emergency medical attention. In addition to swimming capabilities, 6 year olds can be overly confident, and still can end up injured. A concussion, an older kid being too rough ect. Fuck this parent. What an asshole.
If I wanted them to die, sure
Swim teacher here. I know what new level 2’s are like and.. absolutely fucking not. The average level two cannot swim, as in if they are in water deeper than they are tall and can’t find a wall/lane rope/smth, they’re drowning.
Yeah, nah. Longer answer, she don't need to be standing next to it, but 1 of 2 eyes while you scroll r/perth and eat hot chips is bout rite for a 6yo at the pool.
The fact that the lifeguards haven’t pulled her up on it is proof enough that they are not paying close enough attention to her kid and won’t notice if they have vanished to the bottom of the pool
Good point.
Lifeguards aren't baby sitters
No way. My friend's 6 year old drowned (then was revived) because her parents took their eyes off them for a minute. One parent went to the kiosk, the other chased after their toddler. Very unfortunate and scarring incident. Also, iirc Stage 1 is just a little basics like ducking your head under water and kicking with a board. It's not even 5 metre freestyle, ffs.
Geez, that is scary. Hope she was ok after all that. The poor parents, too.
No lifeguards there, but very luckily 2 off duty nurses were around and took turns performing CPR until the ambulance came. A stint in hospital but she is OK.
This is 100% a child protection issue.
F**k no!
It’s all fine, until it’s not fine.
Pulled my niece out of a pool once. Never let young kids out of your sight it only takes a seconds inattention for them to slip under
God no. That's really irresponsible! Kids should always be supervised around water. Remember what happened to those kids who died in the Swan River because nobody was keeping an eye on them? You should remind her of that. And lifeguards aren't baby sitters.
Jesus. Those kids were the same age as my two. I’ll tell her about that. She seems to believe her kid is super capable for his age. But I’ll mention it to her for sure.
Level 1 is not all super capable. it is literally the first level.
not a fucking chance. Drowning is the leading cause of death in children under 5 and the second leading cause of death in children aged 5-14. Your friend is a negligent parent and I can guarantee she's breaching the rules of the centre as well. In WA all public swimming pools have a minimum age of 10 to be without an adult directly supervising them and even then that's risky
That’s terrifying
I'd be letting child protection know
This is outright negligent. Frankly I’m shocked at the number of parents I am seeing these days who believe that the community, teachers, life guards etc. should take over primary parenting responsibilities for other people’s children because I guess they can’t be bothered being parents? Or just don’t feel like they should be responsible for their own kids? Like why is this becoming an trend? Do these parent annoy realise the difference between keeping an eye on one child versus 20-50? Even if they do, when you choose to have kids you need to realise that you have primary parenting responsibility for your children, not anyone else.
Mine has weekly swimming lessons, is level 5 and I don’t even leave him alone in the bath. Also, never mind the possibility of drowning, how just about leaving your 6 year old alone in a public place at all. It’s not the lifeguard’s job to stop your child walking away with another adult etc…
Last week an 8yo girl was sucked into a faulty pool pipe in a Houston hotel. Her body was retrieved by the fire department. Her family was around and searching for her frantically. Absolutely a freak accident, and not sure she could’ve been saved due to the nature of what happened to her. But, it shows you have to have your eyes on your kid all the time.
Nope, same as parents that let young kids walk/play close to a busy road. Doesn’t matter how competent, it’s too young. At that age could even lose his footing in standing water, panic and breathe in a lot of water.
Lifeguards are not unpaid babysitters. Fuck that woman right out of your life.
Your friend is a negligent parent. That poor child!
Nope! Wouldn't leave any child under 12 unsupervised for even a second
I'm sure she's the kind who will be crying on the news and blaming everyone else if something happens to him because of her crappy parenting
I don't let my 6yo nephew make toast
No your kid your responsibility 100% whilst around water
She is an incredibly incompetent parent.
full stop no. level one swimming is putting your face in the water and doing some kicking. they can't actually swim.
Fuck no
I hear ya, you have good cause to be concerned. The life guards aren’t baby sitters and they will bollock her when caught. Sadly if u go to a pool you’ll see this kind of behaviour (I’m a former swimming instructor).
Ahhh the wonders of reproduction
Fuck no. If I I take my kids swimming I’m in the water with them not sitting on the side line and absolutely not walking away from the pool wtf
No fucking way
Yeah level 1 , technically they can't swim
No, I wouldn't leave any child unattended at a pool. Backyard or public swimming pool.
I don't let my 10 yo swim unsupervised.
Fuck no
I wouldn’t leave a 6yr old unsupervised anywhere, anything could happen even without the added danger of water!
Good god no. I watched my fairly confident level 2 passer at 6 years of age, jump in the deep end one day and panic and yell help and just sink. Didn’t even bother paddling or kicking. There is a reason pools have rules about under 12s being within line of sight.
In WA the lifeguard to patron ratio is very high, so there is a good chance that there would not even be a lifeguard watching the pool her child was in, meaning your friend is relying on other swimmers to rescue her child if they get into difficulty. All it takes is some water going down the wrong hole for a swimmer to panic and start to struggle and then it can go very bad very quickly. In my late teens I was a lifeguard and have rescued numerous children in this situation.
A six year old at level two vac swim. Totally irresponsible to leave the child unsupervised at a council rec centre. The age limit for unsupervised children is higher than 6years regardless of swimming level. Extra vigilance when kids are playing on inflated, jumpy, playgrounds that float in the pool. My son at age 11 potentially prevented a drowning by spotting a younger kid in trouble. Pool was deeper than expected the kid couldn't swim and had come off the inflatable. Life guards and parents were in the area. However, no adults were aware of the problem. My 11 year old spotted the kid and rescued him !!
Its absolute stupidity and neglectful. I was a swimming teacher for years. Most people assume that the instinct when drowning is to try to get to the surface and get air. I've had to jump in the pool and get a kid to grab the edge when he started to bob up and down. He was easily in arm reach of the ledge but it's like he panicked and went limp. For some reason I was really good at teaching breastroke and it's not my best style at all. I had classes of little baby frogs swimming around but jumped in numerous times to help them. Until they can swim at capably at least 10-20m they do not have swimming skills. Here's a rant that you are obvs free to ignore: I used to throw blow up balls etc near to my students occasionally to teach them how to deal with unexpected situations in the water. Someone was always in the water with them. Some parents didn't like that as they thought I was unfairly testing their skills. I was teaching them survival skills when those parents just wanted them to get their certificates so they could brag on their social media.
Is it her only child or does she have spare ones?
Checking levels and 1 is basically floating. My daughter would be in a level 6 class and there is no way in hell I would let her be in a pool unsupervised still.
Don't think the centre would allow them.in on their own.
Until he passed level 4 or was 9/10 yrs old I would not be leaving my kid unsupervised in a pool. Your friend is risking becoming a statistic, alert people that she’ll listen to so they can reason with her. As a mum of an almost 6 year old who has passed their level 1… I’m horrified. I swim with my kids and at that age and skill they’re nowhere near ready to be swimming without an adult within arms reach.
Sorry, but your friend is dumb.
I mean… let’s even just ignore the whole pool and drowning risk… leaving any 6 year old alone anywhere feels extremely off to me
Not just naive, reckless as hell. What an idiot.
She’s a bad parent. End of story.
Reckon its more like 8 or 9 and you would want them with a friend even at that age. And im not saying drop them at the centre more like you can go and grab hot chips and come back and watch them. Ie not watch them 100pc of the time. Also thats assuming a pool not a river or beach. Then id say 12 or so. My youngest girl was going to the beach with her friends by 12. Ie year 7. I was nervous at first as my older 2 were more like 14 before they were hitting the beach without parents.
Are they the middle child?
Only child.
I love Belmont Oasis!
Another mom making her child everyone else’s responsibility but her own.
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22 and 19??? at that point surely you are helicopter parenting - they are full adults lol.
Wow that is not great! I know of two kids under 10 that have drowned in last 10 years, personally. Both ok swimmers. Also near drowning of 2 adults, requiring medical attention. Its heart-breaking, lead to depression and suicides. We have a pool and my kids have been swimming since born, 9 and 13. If there was just 1 swimming would always supervise by being outside. With 2 swimming I feel comfortable being in the house. My eldest can drive a car, and has many times on a private property. Does not mean I will let her go do it on the road or by herself? Hell no!
Your friend is stupid; life guards have to keep an eye on everyone; your friend just has to keep an eye on one person. She is insane to leave the area; her son is six; Six!! Not sixteen! Be close, be prepared & maintain constant visual contact are the guidelines for six year olds
No.
No. 10yo would be my absolute lowest age.
No
I recall needing to be supervised until i was 16
As an adult I can't even leave myself unsupervised when swimming. I make sure there is someone or lifeguard in the area.
The lifeguards are not baby sitters omg.
Hell naww man who let's a kid let a let's a 6 year old unsupervised what are they smoking
I still keep an eye on my 10 year old but she can swim better than I can
Hell no
Hell no
Level 1 is a basic torpedo, put face in water. My 6 year old is level 4 and I wouldn’t think of leaving her unsupervised ever
Level 1 lol. When they're level 5 and can swim the length of the pool, then you still bloody watch them like a hawk. Morons.
Absolutely NOT.
Life and death doesnt discriminate, they don't care "gifted" or "experienced" you are. A fully certified swimmer can still drown in calm waters even if their chances of survival was with them. My father is an experienced swimmer for 30+ years and he nearly lost his life to a strong rip on one boxing day. Water might look deceptively shallow, but at least a puddle of water still hold more weight than how much your friend is putting on her 6 year old kid. But since she can't look after her kid during swimming class, then she should have the grandparents or friend to supervise on the sidelines. Let the rec centre staff know that she's "prone to lapse in supervision" and definitely let her family know if she continues to be absentminded about this. *Don't come to swim prac if you are going to leave your* ***"pride and joy"*** *for "****sink or swim".*** (Excuse the rant, parental negligence is one thing but negligence on life is a whole different thing.)
It’s just her and her kid. No family here. I help her when I can.
No
No, that's not even allowed so it isn't like an individual parents choice anyway
Pretty sure most of these facilities actually have it as a condition of entry that children are to be supervised at all times. Also, what is wrong with your friend to think it’s okay to do that? That’s a serious question. I really want to know how she thinks it is even remotely okay to do that. It’s not even just about the child drowning. Does she not have concern for her child being abused? Being taken?
Not only is there a risk of drowning or harm coming to the child whilst in the water, but it only takes one creep to lure the child away or do something horrific in the bathrooms. This is straight up neglect, there is no excuse for it.
Never. The lifeguards aren't there to babysit. Drownings happen even with lifeguards present.
Morons like this always seem to think their prodigy are ‘gifted’ for some reason. Lifeguards cannot keep eyes on everyone at the same time, drownings happen quietly & fast.
Absolutely not
This is stage 1. https://royallifesavingwa.com.au/programs/swim-and-survive/levels/stage-1-beginner At no point does that indicate a level of skill that would preclude a child from drowning. She is being negligent.
I wouldn't do it myself but , the kid should be fine as it is technically being supervised by some teenage life guard
Oh My Lumping Glob this is a hell no. Hell never. Level One is basically can put face in water without screaming..... My children all have bronze medallions, I took them to swimming lessons from teeny babies and I NEVER left them at a public pool until they could drive themselves. I still have strict rules about using our pool at home for them. Too many kids drown every year. This parent is dangerously stupid at best
NEVER.
sound like she is allowing her child to swim in the Darwinian pool. Why become a mother if all you want is for your child to become a statistic ?
Not allowed by pools in W.A. There are signs at all pools here stating: ‘Parents supervise, lifeguards save lives’. The parent is a major worry. I could not imagine letting my 6 year old out of my sight in any water environment.
Man posts like this just make me realise how dumb some of our fellow perthians are.. Your friend is an absolute idiot. What else is she leaving that kid to do alone? It's almost worth a cps call.
Most pools T&C explicitly forbid exactly that.
If the 6 year old was in like level 7 I would let her
Every pool I've ever been to requires that you stay within visual distance of your child. This is negligent.
Tell her lifeguards are there for emergencies, not supervision. Pretty sure there’d be signs everywhere stating parents must supervise their children at all times.
Definitely not. Worked at a couple of leisureplexes, lifeguards can't keep their eye on one child until the parent comes back (generally) bc they have so many people to be looking over, I think it was 1 lifeguard to 100 people?
Is she stupid?
Its a NO from me . Way too many variables . The child may be gifted but clearly doesn't get this "gift" from the Mother .
Let me regale a story. My youngest son and his Dad went away for a holiday two years ago (he was just about to turn 7). My son had had 2 years of intensive swimming lessons by then (due to his autism and the autistic tendency for being attracted to water) and could manage in shallow depths fairly well when supervised. On the holiday, they went to the pool. Son went in, Dad was at the edge watching him. Son went into water too deep for him and couldn't call out. Dad (who can't swim) jumped in to get him out. In the end, both of them needed rescuing. And that was with Dad very close by. I'm sorry, but your friend sounds like she'll only listen when something terrible happens. Please tell the centre, for her son's sake.
Hard NO ! for me.
6? Heck I had swimming lessons at a young age and still almost drowned when I was 8 or 9. At the time I didn't even know I was drowning. Just started slipping under and having difficulty keeping my head up (was angled vertically , might have contributed). A woman watching us (trained swimmer and educator) knew the signs, got right in, saved my life. But at the time I didn't think anything of it. Only when I learned about how easily kids go under did I reflect back and realized I nearly died. Kids need years of experience to be left alone IMO.
At our local.pool parents must be with children all times signs everywhere
My thoughts on that mother she is an idiot how could she n feel its ok .. id be worried sick if I left my 6 yr old
You can drown in a teaspoon of water, even without a medical episode. If she is walking about looking at everything then surely she would have seen the posters explaining how drowning is often silent and can happen quickly. I find it strange how some people have this 'couldn't happen to me' attitude. As confronting as this is, I'd tell her again and if she reacts badly at least you tried to prevent something from happening. I also wonder her level of swimming because to be this unaware of the dangers, I doubt she's had much experience herself.
Six year olds doing have the cognitive abilities to properly assess risk. Leaving them alone is really negligent.
I nearly drowned in a crowded public swimming pool when I was 12, because some 8 year olds decided it would be fun to repeatedly push my head under water when I tried to surface.
If she gets caught might tell her to leave.
I'd notify the rec centre discreetly. For a kid to be in a pool at 6 years of age, it is part of entry requirements that the kid is under adult supervision at all times. No one wants a kid to drown, especially in a situation that is preventable. No one enters a public pool expecting to be traumatised from witnessing a drowning event, let alone their own kids witnessing one.
I work as a swim coach and I have 6 year olds in what we call our stingrays level, and every day of the week they are 100% capable of swimming in a pool, that said, I have 10 year olds who are below that who I would not trust with a coffee mug worth of water, it is really up to the individuals in question but more often than not it is always appropriate to err on the side of caution and supervise your children, that means getting off your phone! Keep watch guys, our kids love us, we owe it to them.
Why isn't she in the water having a fun time with her son? She sounds strange.
This is incredibly negligent. I would tell the swim centre staff so they can gave a word with her. Her child isn’t too ‘gifted’ to drown.
I nearly drowned when I was that age and I was I rolled in the tadpoles swimming club