THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 21, 1996 TAG: 9606210001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 42 lines
School recessed for the summer last week, and already two youngsters have drowned. A Chesapeake teenager died last week after she fell from a paddle boat and a 10-year-old Virginia Beach boy drowned in an Alexandria-area lake on Monday.
Tragically, the most recent victim, Kenneth M. Santiago, a rising fifth-grader at Tallwood Elementary School, apparently could not swim.
These two deaths are typical of what officials have come to expect of summer drownings. Ironically, the most treacherous body of water, the Atlantic Ocean, claims relatively few swimmers year in and year out, due mostly to the vigilance of lifeguards and respect by bathers for the treacherous currents.
It is the more-benign bodies of water where drownings occur. Sad to say, the victims are frequently children who cannot swim. Every summer, children drown in our lazy rivers, stagnant borrow pits and stormwater-management reservoirs.
A debate is raging in Virginia Beach over the presence of a partially dug fish pond or borrow pit - depending on whom you talk to - near the Lago Mar community. Nearby residents are worried about the attractive nuisance in their midst which could entice neighborhood children. They are right to be concerned.
Norfolk's Shelley Wagner has won national recognition for her ``Andrew Poems.'' These are her heartbreaking laments in the wake of the drowning of her 5-year-old son, Andrew, who fell into the Lafayette River one summer.
The death of any child is awful to contemplate, drowning more so because it is often preventable. Something positive can come out of these and other deaths if other parents are made aware of the necessity of teaching their children to swim at the earliest possible age.
Area YMCAs and community swimming pools provide swimming lessons at reasonable costs. The price can surely be considered a type of life insurance.
South Hampton Roads is literally surrounded by water. In addition, many families have pools, many neighborhoods are dotted with lakes and bounded by rivers and creeks. Danger lurks in every body of water.
As we were reminded with news reports in Tuesday's paper, a child without good swimming skills is in peril. by CNB