A woman from Pennsylvania named Jen Wymer was enjoying a leisurely day at the pool with her kids, when she suddenly found herself being escorted away by police -- all because she refused to remove her son Max's water wings.
She had already been forced by the lifeguard to take them off the boy once, even after she explained that Max suffers from cerebral palsy and needs those wings to help him stay afloat in the water. Jen even went so far as to hold Max in the water for an entire hour, but finally decided to put the floaties back on. And that's when the lifeguard got fed up, asked her to take them off again, and called the police when she refused.
Is this not one of the most outrageous things you've ever heard? Who in their right mind would force any child to go without their water wings in a public pool -- let alone a kid with special needs? And who kicks a kid out of a pool simply for wearing them in the first place?!
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Apparently the park rules state that life saving devices & water wings are prohibited because they give swimmers a "false sense of security" in the water. But for a child who is still learning to swim and be comfortable swimming in the pool independently, wearing floaties can be the one thing that stands between them actually enjoying their swim and winding up being terrified of the water.
My son is 6 years old, and while he's almost to the point of knowing how to swim -- he isn't quite there yet. And that's why if we're swimming in a pool that has a deep end, I put his water wings on so he can venture past the shallow end without me having to hold him. Never for one second have I considered those wings to be a floatation device. But they do make me feel slightly more comfortable about letting him navigate the pool on his own (with my eyes on him at all times, of course).
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And if anyone ever asked me to take off his floaties because of some silly rule -- I'm thinking I'd probably need a police escort too, because I wouldn't be able to control the "leave us the hell alone & mind your own business" comments that would likely come out of my mouth.
I understand that proper safety precautions need to be taken at swimming pools, and I know this lifeguard was only doing his/her job -- but rules were made to be broken, especially in the case of a boy with cerebral palsy who is only trying to enjoy his summer break.
You can hear more about what happened to Jen & Max in this video clip.
Do you think it was necessary for the lifeguard to call police? Does your child wear water wings in the pool?
Image via WPIX
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Comments 128
I never used floaties or water wings of any kind when I learned to swim. Consequently, I never used them for my son. He's 8 now, and swims like a fish. Prior to that, he was NEVER allowed to go into water above a certain point on his body (we reassessed all the time as his abilities improved) until he could manage that water. I never let him go in by himself, either. So it IS possible to have a child near water, be completely safe, AND not use floatation devices.
It is true that floatation devices give kids a false sense of security. True story: when I was little (around 6) I had a friend whose parents *required* her to wear water wings at all times. She saw me swimming without them, and wanted to swim like me (I was allowed off the diving boards, etc., because I could swim). So she took them off and jumped into water over her head. Sunk to the bottom. Fortunately, there were enough people around that they saw her go under, and she was rescued. From then on, her parents NEVER used the wings, and they taught her to swim.
I'm sorry, but the rules are the rules. I DO sympathize with this mother, and agree that she needs to discuss her situation with the pool management, and perhaps get special permission (which should be given), but to just go postal on a lifeguard who is doing her job is wrong.
It was clearly posted that floaties were not allowed. The sign didn't say "no floaties allowed unless your child has CP". She was asked to follow the rules, she didn't, so she was made to leave. End of story. Rules were not "made to be broken", they were made to establish safety and order for everyone, and that statement is just plain ignorant.
I was a lifeguard for many years, and while floaties might have a place in someone's home/private pool, they have no place in a public pool setting. Most public pools do not allow for floaties of any kind in the large pool- there are a number of reasons for this, and they all involve safety... and since a lot of people think this is ridiculous, I'll outline them below.
1) many parents think of water wings/tubes/floaties of any kind as insurance that their kid is OK in water where they are not comfortable swimming and leave their kids unattended. This presents a very real danger if something gets knocked off, or the child panics.
2) any type of floatation device obstructs a lifeguards view of the bottom of the pool, which could lead to a lapse in time of the lifeguard seeing an issue and responding.
3) When there are numerous floats in the pool, lifeguards have a more challenging time seeing if anyone is in danger, because there is a lot of extra splashing and there are physical floats obscuring the lifeguards view of the pool.
Lastly, as someone earlier mentioned, it is a shame that this kid has CP and cannot swim along; but if you make one exception you will, no doubt, have 25 kids by the next week all with legitimate reasons for needing water wings. The rules are not there to be difficult- they are there for the safety of all kids and adults in the pool.
This same thing happened to me at the Y!!! They made my son (who has Autism) wear another device that was so big he couldn't even swim. It Would rotate from the front to the back. After dragging him from the pool because he didn't understand why he couldn't wear his floaties dragging and screaming and my crying I gave them a piece of my mind and never went back.
Wow this is how sue happy people are, that children cant even wear FLOATIES at a pool because it "gives them a false sense of security". REALLY!!!! Put up a damn sign that says PARENTS are responsible for their childrens pool safety!!!!! A life gaurd is not a baby sitter, they are there to assist in the event of an EMERGENCY. Parents need to be watching their children, you had them they are YOUR responsibility.
all children start out using floaters if they are unable to swim , being he is a special needs child perhaps he needed them too .