Swimming for Life: The Emergency of Teaching Black Children to Swim

Abstract

Gregory Green

The purpose of this article was to provide relevant discussions and data related to the urgency of teaching Black and other minority children to swim. The findings in this report indicated that Black children tend to have a higher drowning rate when compared to other groups. Also, as high as 64 percent of Black children suffer from extreme fear when confronted with discussions pertaining to swimming. Researchers sometimes perceive this as a cultural issue manifested by parents who never learned to swim themselves. Our findings indicated that Black children have a six times likelihood for unintentional drowning when compared to their white counterparts. Among the reasons for low swimming priorities among Black children, included lack of facilities, affordability, fear of water, and hair concerns.

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