Pool Fence: Don't Take Offense but You Need a Fence

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Now it’s time to get ready for the next major holiday whether you celebrate Christmas, Hannukah or Kwanzaa either way; it’s a hectic time of year. Pool fence.

In addition to the major holidays, we also celebrate my husband’s and my son’s birthdays. My son just turned 18!! He’s officially an adult. Where did the time go?

Spend as much quality time with your children as you can, because before you know it, they’re planning for college.

And especially keep them safe around water, so that they can be around to prepare for college.

Did you know that drowning can happen silently in less than five minutes and under the supervision of both parents? pool fence

I have had discussions with many parents in the past who don’t want to install a pool fence because it’s not aesthetically pleasing.

The same parents say that they’re very diligent and would never take their eyes off of their children when in on or around water.

We probably all think that we can be 100% attentive at all times and never take our eyes off of our children, but we all get distracted.

Just the other day, during a parent and child swimming lesson with three adults and two children standing in a circle in the pool, facing each other, one of the Dad’s dropped something right when his daughter slid off the floating mat expecting to be picked up by her Dad immediately following.

He was looking down and was unaware that his child was floating vertically before him, and her whole head was submerged.

It took me a couple of seconds to realize that her Dad didn’t see her there. As soon as I noticed, I launched forward and scooped her up.

She can hold her breath for a few seconds, so she was completely unscathed by the event.

Even while she was just silently floating there as calm as can be, she looked completely relaxed and confident that her Dad was going to lift her out of the water.

As previously mentioned; drowning is silent which makes it much harder to notice.

It’s not like the movies, where the victim is screaming, and arms are flailing.

All the more reason to take the necessary precautions to prevent drowning and install that pool fence.

So what if the fence isn’t beautiful. Make your child a priority.

Install a climb-resistant mesh pool fence and make sure it’s at least four feet high with a self-closing, self-latching gate and with pool alarms.

If you have any thoughts on the subject or experiences that you would like to share, I would love to hear from you.

Love the water,

Tessa

P.S. Get the FREE water safety app to help ensure your family stays safe in, on and around the water. It includes kid-friendly videos and quizzes. Search the iTunes app store for Swim by American Red Cross or click here. For Google Play you can use the same search parameters or click here. It provides the latest in water safety guidance to help ensure your family stays safe in, on and around the water.

P.P.S. To start your child on the path to becoming water safe, click here.