One of the most important things parents can do to protect their young children is teach them to be safe around water. Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4, according to the American Red Cross.

At the YMCA of Coastal Carolina, water safety training starts as young as six months, and the focus is on the parents as much as it is on their children.

In partnership with Tidelands Health, YMCA of Coastal Carolina offers Safety Around Water, a program that focuses on water safety and self-rescue skills while reinforcing that water should be fun, not feared.

Tidelands Health is the exclusive health system partner of the YMCA of Coastal Carolina, including  Claire Chapin Epps Family YMCA, Tidelands Health Pawleys Family YMCA and Tidelands Health Georgetown Family YMCA. Together, the two organizations are providing the community with access to a broad variety of services and programs to improve health and wellness, including Safety Around Water classes.

All swim programs are based on the foundation of “Safety Around Water” and begin with the premise that parents need to be constantly engaged with their non-swimming kids around water.

“The dynamic we want to ingrain is that a child always asks permission before getting in the water,” says Autumn Finney, the aquatics director at Claire Chapin Epps Family YMCA. “With infants, the parent gets in the water first and invites the infant in with them, and later on children learn that an adult should always be with them when they are around or in the water. And we teach parents to actively supervise, minimize distractions like cellphones and interact with their children while they’re in the water.”

Early childhood swim lessons begin by teaching young learners how to get out of the water before they teach them how to get in.

“Kids need to know how to get out, because it’s harder than getting in,” Finney says. “So, we teach them ‘elbow, elbow, tummy, knee’ to pull themselves out of the pool, and they practice it so there’s no fear that they can’t get out once they are in.”

Safety underpins all swim classes at the YMCA. Children as young as 3 are taught how to call 911 in case of an emergency, including what to tell the operator: name, where you are and what happened.

“Really, it’s not just about swimming. Our message is that safety is a life lesson and knowing how to be safe in and out of water is important for us all,” Finney says. “We make it fun for the kids, certainly, but our goal is to build their confidence to enjoy themselves, while making smart choices and knowing what to do if they get into trouble.”

The lessons in the pool translate directly to safety around ponds, lakes and the ocean. Children are taught the survival technique “swim, float, swim” to allow themselves to rest by floating on their back if they become tired in the water.

Children will also learn how to put on a life jacket, as well as what waves and currents feel like and how to manage them. They are also taught what to do if they are ever caught in a rip current — swimming parallel to the shore until they don’t feel the pull of the current.

By beginning early and reinforcing early lessons as kids get older, Finney says, kids develop the right balance of confidence and caution around water that can serve them well into old age – a lifetime of safe practice that can be passed on to each new generation of youngsters.

Discover more about group swim lessons at the YMCA of Coastal Carolina.