With a new state-of-the art high school slated to open in September, one that includes a six-lane, 25-meter pool, Mayor Reed Gusciora could lead a much needed city-wide youth swimming initiative.
Disparities between African American youth and their Caucasian peers has been a subject discussed for decades without any significant change.
Sixty-four percent of black youth cannot swim while 45-percent of Hispanic children lack adequate swimming skills while approximately 40 percent of Caucasian youth lack necessary skills to stay safe in water.
An article posted by Lindsay Mondick for the YMCA noted several reasons for minorities' struggles to become successful swimmers. The writer "cultural and historical factors explain why children of color are at a higher risk for drowning:
Increased privatization of swimming lessons and pools as well as a history of exclusion set the context for today’s low participation rates in swim lessons. A painful legacy of racial segregation and violent strife surrounds the history of municipal swimming pools. This legacy helped to erect high barriers to swimming participation that remain in place today.
Myths and stereotypes
A lack of representation in professional swim sports and false beliefs surrounding people of color and swimming have also lead to restricted performance and limited participation.
Inherited fear of drowning
The USA Swimming Foundation study shows that if a parent does not know how to swim, there is only a 13 percent chance that their child will learn how to swim. When adult role models fear water, or have been negatively impacted by the above experiences, their comfort level with swimming is passed down to younger generations..
Let's say all of the above register as true statements. Of course, we can alter those factors with an introduction of pool activities, classes and free swims at the new Trenton Central High School pool.
The TCHS pool may be smaller than an Olympic-sized one but there's six lanes and a maximum depth of 15 feet to easily accommodate diving on the deep end, according to Thomas Schrum, the SDA managing director of program operations who offered this whirlpool of a statement.
“I’m sure many children will learn how to swim here,” Schrum said in a previous interview with The Trentonian, “which is a wonderful thing", especially when one considers that every day ten accidental drowning deaths occur. Centers for Disease Control estimated that 3,500 perish in water with Black/African American children drowning rates three times higher than white children.
The City of Trenton operates four pools which will increase by one in August with the reopening of Hetzel Pool following a $1.2 million renovation. Five pools and a Trenton Central High School facility seem enough to spark a swimming revolution here.
Forget the stereotypes regarding lack of buoyancy and all the past egregious acts to prevent blacks and other minorities from swimming, even in some municipal pools. This is our time and Mayor Gusciora must make a pledge to assure that every child swims in Trenton, paralleling an understanding that every child needs excellent reading skills to bolster a successful education.
By the way, learning to swim as a toddler presents less challenges than learning to swim as a teen or young adult. Let's get children in the water accompanied by a parent as soon as possible.
Not sure whether the reading initiative continues in Trenton but several years back some education wonks placed books at city pools. What a fantastic idea.
Every child reads. Every child swims.