Black Children Drowning Disproportionately: Study

Parents strongly urged to take swim lessons with their kids
By A. Scott Walton
Never learned to swim?
Can't catch the rhythm of the stroke?
Well grab some nose plugs and dive into the pool of doubt anyway.
Childrens' lives depend on it.
The tragedy that struck the family of former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham this week drives home some staggering statistics. The death of his two-year old son strikes a cautionary chord.
As reported by ABC News and other sources, Black children are three times more likely to die from drowning than White children. And according to an official Fact Sheet from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the second-leading cause of unintentiaonal death among children aged 1-14 is drowning.
More drownings could be prevented if parents closely observed and enforced safety rules around natural waters, pools and hot tubs wherever and whenever children are involved. And more childrens’ lives might be spared if they, along with their parents, had adequate and continuous swimming instruction.
Before on more child’s drowning makes headlines, parents should take every step possible to prevent such an occurrence.