According to Thomas-Lynn (2008) 60% of African-American children ages 6-16 cannot swim. Children of lower socioeconomic status are also twice as likely to be non-swimmers (Crary, 2008). Berukoff and Hill (2010) strongly suggest early swimming programs to help children learn to swim and become less afraid of water. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of swimming instruction on children’s fear of water during a three week summer outreach program. The program is an attempt to connect a land-grant university to the greater community which it serves in outreach activities to meet the expressed needs of the community.
Method:
The participants were 39 children (18 boys; 21 girls) ages 4-12 (95% African American and 5% Caucasian). The children attending the summer program were chosen to participate in this study since the program serves children identified as low income and environmentally at-risk for developmental delay and poor health. Children participated in nine 45 minute sessions (three days per week) of swimming instruction taught by a Red Cross Certified swimming instructor. Data collection included pre and post interviews with all children. Interview questions were based upon the swimming and water related components of the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised (Ollendick, 2006).
Analysis/Results:
Data were transcribed and subject to standard qualitative methods in order to generate themes (Patton, 1990). Prior to swimming instruction, the most constant perception of the children was one that showed progressive fear of “being in deep water and unable to touch the ground,” which lead to a subsequent fear of “not being able to breathe,” manifesting into a fear of “drowning.” Following the camp program, perceptions of helplessness in particularly appeared to be allayed, with the children reporting they felt more confident and more comfortable in the water. While fear of drowning was still prevalent, the children believed they had better skills with respect to being able to swim and avoid such a danger.
Conclusions:
The results of this study show that with as few as nine lessons, certain fears of water and swimming can be reduced in a population that has been shown particularly at risk of drowning.