Think 'safety first' around pools, lakes

Wanda Jean Butts, who started the Josh Project to teach minority kids how to swim after her son Josh drowned, poses for a portrait.

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Katie Bertsch, of Toledo, teaches daughter Addison Bertsch, then 4, to swim last summer at Rolf Park Pool in Maumee.

No matter what the weather is today, summer's coming. Just check the calendar.

And sooner or later -- let's hope it's sooner -- youngsters will want to get with their friends and make a mad dash for the neighborhood pool to cool off and splash around.

Though summer doesn't officially arrive until June 21, when Memorial Day weekend begins on Friday, people everywhere will be anxious to get out of their work and school clothes and get into their swimsuits for a dunk in the pool -- weather permitting, of course.

But cooperation from Mother Nature pales in comparison to the necessity of parents doing their part to ensure the safety of their children and to make sure they know how to keep themselves safe around water.

If your children know how to swim, that's good. However, it's not enough. There are rules parents should insist their children know and practice when it comes to getting into the water to play or swim.

With summer activities getting under way next weekend, the swim safety program called the Josh Project will host a safe summer kick off from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the St. Francis de Sales High School Natatorium on Bancroft Street. In the project's first annual water safety day, participants will learn safety tips. The Greater Toledo Aquatic Club and several other organizations work with the Josh Project to increase children's safety around swimming pools and natural and man-made bodies of water.

The program is named in memory of John-Joshua Butts who drowned in August, 2006, in a Michigan lake. The 16-year-old Toledoan never had a swimming lesson and could not swim. The tragedy compelled his mother, Wanda Butts, to turn her grief into something positive so other parents might not have to suffer the same grief.

Wanda Jean Butts, who started the Josh Project to teach minority kids how to swim after her son Josh drowned, poses for a portrait.

Ms. Butts founded the Josh Project in 2007, and has since traveled the nation to talk about her loss and the project that she set up to see that children learn how to swim and about swim safety, regardless the neighborhoods they live in, whether or not their families are swimmers, or whether or not they live near water.

Michael Miller -- the Josh Project's newest board member who got involved with the project while teaching swimming for the aquatic school -- refers to a statistic to persuade people to learn to swim.

"Nine people drown daily," said the third-year student from Pittsburgh who is majoring in chemistry education at the University of Toledo.

In fact, the World Health Organization says 3,600 people die in accidental drownings annually. Last year in Lucas County, there were eight drownings.

Many victims of accidental are inner-city children who are African-American or Hispanic who came to embrace a fear of water handed down to them from their parents, Mr. Miller pointed out. Though the percentage of minorities might be high among those who drown, he said it isn't a race issue.

"It's not as much race as it is the family," he said. "When kids come from non-swimming households, they are more likely to be at risk for drowning."

Ms. Butts' daughter, Tankeeya Butts, vice president of the Josh Project, said she has learned since her brother died that people should know how to swim and that it's better to learn to do so when young.

"More recently I've learned that if people don't learn how to swim by the third grade, they may never learn to swim," Tankeeya Butts said.

It's also vital that parents understand the importance of providing intense supervision for children swimming or playing in water.

"My fear is that parents have a false sense of security. Their kids have learned to swim, so they don't have to worry about them [around water]," those parents think, she said.

However, being dismissive about supervising youngsters who have learned to swim ignores one of the layers of protection that the Association of Pool and Spa Professionals encourage adults to implement to increase safety, Tankeeya Butts said.

"It's important to have constant adult supervision from someone who is not texting or reading books," she said.

And no, you can't go into the house to get the telephone or to retrieve something, even if it will only take a minute. Tankeeya Miss Butts says there must be constant supervision from an adult or lifeguard, she means constant.

"We recommend that parents appoint a designated watcher," she said.

That person should be singled out so that other adults and children know that the identified person is not to be asked to help set up the picnic table or flip the burgers on the grill.

Miss Butts also urges that parents of youngsters who are invited to the homes of classmates or friends for a swimming party not to be embarrassed about asking questions about swim safety.

"Ask the other parents what kind of safety precautions they have at their pool," she said.

Is there a shepherd's hook or some other type of long pole to use to help someone who might be getting into trouble in the water? Are there life preservers? Does anyone know CPR? Is there a first aid kit at the pool side?

And, before stepping a single toe in the water, Mr. Miller said to remember to be aware of the pool surroundings, to make sure an adult or lifeguard is present, and to never swim alone.

Contact Rose Russell at rrussell@theblade.com or 419-724-6178.