4-Year-Old Boy Drowns in Wave Pool at California Water Park

[Amraann]

Love_mama!!

What fabulous pictures

I agree with your son! Those pools are definitely over crowded.

At the very least there should be an age limit and all young children should have to wear a vest.

 

[southcitymom]

Truthful Lies... thanks for your post

As a child we were not permitted to scream outrageously and to yell the word "help" in play when no help was really needed was grounds for spending the day out of the water.

Water safety was a serious issue and we were not permitted to take it lightly.
I guess that is why I find it shocking that so many people do.

Truth be told my husband for years tried to imply that I was overly cautious with the children near water. Living in Florida where many shark attacks happen there are some special rules to follow... Like never swim in water you can't see clear to the bottom...
He changed his tune when his friend (a long time surfer in Daytona) told him that in fact I was correct and not overly cautious at all.

Water safety was big with us too - as it is with my kids. They know what to do in a riptide and to not yell "help" unless necessary (my 4-year-old had several lengthy time outs this weekend to learn this one). I grew up in an ocean where you NEVER could see the bottom, so we just tread lightly in those waters.

My scary recent waterpark experience gave us a good thing to talk about in terms of how something might be fun, but look unsafe to the grownups entrusted with keeping people safe. My son seemed to "get" that after we talked about it. Just like I get how fun the dead man's float can be.

On our recent vacation, we made a stop at my inlaws in Myrtle Beach - they had a new pool in their backyard and my 4-year-old was really pushing his swimming limits. At this stage in the game, his waterplay/swimming and drowning look nearly identical - I felt hairs on my head turn grey in the hours I spent in the pool with him constantly vigilant in figuring out what he could do himself (all of it, according to him) and what he needed help with.

I deserve every grey hair based on what a nervous wreck I made my mother with my water shenanigans when I was a child.

Although my heart breaks for the mother in this case, I feel like leaving a 4 year old and and 8 year old unsupervised in a public wave pool is negligent parenting. I am a mom who is a big fan of letting children find their independence and test their limits, but it's my number one job to make sure they do these things without dying.

Water, especially rough water, can kill a child in the blink of an eye - constant vigilance is required.

 

[southcitymom]

Wow, was that frightening, scm! I am so sorry. (I was scared just reading it.)

"Dead man's float" is problematic, obviously, due to concrete banks and the concerns of lifeguards. But from a purely swimming point of view, your kid's instinct wasn't such a bad one in terms of dealing with large waves!

Hi Nova,

As you well know, parenting is not for the faint of heart!:crazy:

 

[Jade]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/index.html

snip>>>
The boy, Carlos Alejandro Flores, was at the Great America amusement park in Santa Clara on Thursday when his sister, Jasmine, 8, found him dead at the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef wave pool. <<<snip

Poor sister How terrible for her.

 

[Nova]

I live in Ft Lauderdale when I was 11 years old LOL
So 1982 ... and briefly in my early 20's before I moved to South Beach.

I think I have read that your children are older then I am

You and my stepdaughter are roughly the same age; my stepson is a little older. I skipped town before you arrived, alas.

But I bet you can guess where I went to high school...

 

[Nova]

Hi Nova,

As you well know, parenting is not for the faint of heart!:crazy:

Ain't it the truth!

When our kids were young, they lived most of the time with their mother. So when they were with us, we could arrange it so they were never out of the sight of one of us and rarely out of the sight of us both. (Fortunately. As Manhattan in the late 70s, early 80s was pretty rough.)

And we do the same now with the grandchildren.

I agree with you about letting a 4-year-old go into any water without very close supervision. But I am reluctant to damn parents who have to watch kids, clean house, earn a living, etc., etc., and so forth, all at the same time.

As in your experience, even the best of kids can slip away very quickly.

 

[sherri79]

maybe i am mistaken. i thought it is a lifegaurds job to watch the pool for any sign that some1 is in trouble then dive in and save them. i had no idea a lifegaurd is suposed to baby sit my child so i can sit on shore and get a tan. my youngest is 8 and we just went to wild adventures in valdosta GA
his favorite part was the wave pool. i hated it but spent all day in it with him. no vest when there was no waves but i was always in arms length. soon as the bell went off and the waves started i slipted the vest i had been holding right back on him. this child did not sneak off or slip away. mom said she saw him go back in the water and then lost sight of him. i will never understand how she sttod on shore and watched her tiny 4yr old go out in that pool and didnt run after him.

 

[Nova]

maybe i am mistaken....

No, you are exactly right. My post above yours now looks more like a defense of this mother than I intended. I just meant that in general I am sympathetic toward the demands of parenting.

I wouldn't let a 4-year-old out of my sight (and not far out of my reach) in any body of water, much less a crowded pool with artificially heightened wave action.

(For the record, my 15-year-old niece is visiting. We don't let her use the swimming pool unless someone else is present. Why take that chance?)

 

[sherri79]

No, you are exactly right. My post above yours now looks more like a defense of this mother than I intended. I just meant that in general I am sympathetic toward the demands of parenting.

I wouldn't let a 4-year-old out of my sight (and not far out of my reach) in any body of water, much less a crowded pool with artificially heightened wave action.

(For the record, my 15-year-old niece is visiting. We don't let her use the swimming pool unless someone else is present. Why take that chance?)

i didn't read as you defending the mom. i read it as you drawing a line between a mom who has a 5yr old who sneaks out to the family pool while mom is cooking and some1 like this mom. yes both moms should be watching the kids and they are responsible if they fail to keep the child safe. 1 is a accident and we grieve for the mom. the other is neglect! bad things can happen to the best moms. mothers like this 1 i just cant understand.

 

[Amraann]

You and my stepdaughter are roughly the same age; my stepson is a little older. I skipped town before you arrived, alas.

But I bet you can guess where I went to high school...

Gosh Nova ... do you know how many schools are down here??
Besides I only went to middle school there ... I don't even know the names of the HS's

 

[southcitymom]

......When our kids were young, they lived most of the time with their mother. So when they were with us, we could arrange it so they were never out of the sight of one of us and rarely out of the sight of us both. (Fortunately. As Manhattan in the late 70s, early 80s was pretty rough.)......As in your experience, even the best of kids can slip away very quickly.

This will probably sound hopelessly ignorant - especially since I was an older mother who had kids in my mid30s - but the fact that you have to watch them constantly was one of those parenthood laws that hit me out of left field.

I guess I never really thought about it - constantly means constantly - and constantly lasts a long time! In early parenthood, I went through a period where I was truly overwhelmed by these demands - embarrassing to admit even, because I had lots of support!

The thing is - I can really "get" the mother in this case wanting to chill in the sun with her friends and let an older child keep tabs on the baby. What I don't get is following through on that desire while the kids are IN A WAVE POOL.

If I had a penny for every time I wanted to do something but didn't or couldn't because of my children, I'd be a millionaire!

As you and others have pointed out, sometimes things happen and kids slip away. I have an endless supply of empathy for parents who find themselves in that situation....but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

I just keep thinking of my 4-year-old unvested and unsupervised in a public wave pool and it gives me the shivers...

 

[Amraann]

This will probably sound hopelessly ignorant - especially since I was an older mother who had kids in my mid30s - but the fact that you have to watch them constantly was one of those parenthood laws that hit me out of left field.

I guess I never really thought about it - constantly means constantly - and constantly lasts a long time! In early parenthood, I went through a period where I was truly overwhelmed by these demands - embarrassing to admit even, because I had lots of support!

The thing is - I can really "get" the mother in this case wanting to chill in the sun with her friends and let an older child keep tabs on the baby. What I don't get is following through on that desire while the kids are IN A WAVE POOL.

If I had a penny for every time I wanted to do something but didn't or couldn't because of my children, I'd be a millionaire!

As you and others have pointed out, sometimes things happen and kids slip away. I have an endless supply of empathy for parents who find themselves in that situation....but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

I just keep thinking of my 4-year-old unvested and unsupervised in a public wave pool and it gives me the shivers...

As would we all

 

[Nova]

Gosh Nova ... do you know how many schools are down here??
Besides I only went to middle school there ... I don't even know the names of the HS's

The middle school had the same name. (As my hat.)

When I was a kid, it was nationally famous, experimental school (often ranked in lists of top 10 high schools), but over the years, the Broward County School Board put a stop to that.

(The school is in Davie, but in the early days it was county-wide and we were bused there from all over Broward.)

 

[Nova]

I just keep thinking of my 4-year-old unvested and unsupervised in a public wave pool and it gives me the shivers...

Me, too. For whatever reason, my younger brother and sister never took to the water and didn't learn to swim until they were older. Since there was water everywhere in South Fla., I grew up having nightmares about finding them in pools, canals and the ocean.

 

[Amraann]

The middle school had the same name. (As my hat.)

When I was a kid, it was nationally famous, experimental school (often ranked in lists of top 10 high schools), but over the years, the Broward County School Board put a stop to that.

(The school is in Davie, but in the early days it was county-wide and we were bused there from all over Broward.)

LOLOL
The only Nova school I know of in South Florida is the Branch of Nova University located in Down Town Miami

 

[Truthful Lies]

I went to Hollywood Hills...and Broward County was where I guarded. I've re-read my posts...and I'm sorry they sound so intense..water safety is the one thing I'm fanatical about. Glad you guys agree! =) Stay safe this summer...always hire a guard for pool parties..it's worth it.

 

[Amraann]

I went to Hollywood Hills...and Broward County was where I guarded. I've re-read my posts...and I'm sorry they sound so intense..water safety is the one thing I'm fanatical about. Glad you guys agree! =) Stay safe this summer...always hire a guard for pool parties..it's worth it.

Excellent suggestion!!! Even though I consider myself to be extremely water safety conscious I really don't think to hire a guard for a private pool party would have occurred to me.

 

[Truthful Lies]

Excellent suggestion!!! Even though I consider myself to be extremely water safety conscious I really don't think to hire a guard for a private pool party would have occurred to me.

That way someone is watching the water with complete attention to just injury and drowning 100% of the time...when parents try to discipline around the pool, have to re-apply sunscreens, etc...those moments are your danger windows.

You have that safety net just in case. (Not too expensive.. I used to do it for around 15-20 per hour...depending on the family's financial situation) . (The county paid $16 an hour..that was 4/5 years ago).

 

[Amraann]

That way someone is watching the water with complete attention to just injury and drowning 100% of the time...when parents try to discipline around the pool, have to re-apply sunscreens, etc...those moments are your danger windows.

You have that safety net just in case. (Not too expensive.. I used to do it for around 15-20 per hour...depending on the family's financial situation) . (The county paid $16 an hour..that was 4/5 years ago).

Its a great idea!!
I don't have a pool LOLOL

I do live on the beach though So its a thought I will certainly consider if I ever have a party there

 

[Truthful Lies]

Its a great idea!!
I don't have a pool LOLOL

I do live on the beach though So its a thought I will certainly consider if I ever have a party there

But you're thinking about it..and that's the key! There will be friends that you talk to over the years that will mention pool parties, or have them themselves...you might just prevent a tragedy by advising them to hire a guard =)