Struggling families cutting out kids swimming lessons due to cost of living
Families struggling with the growing cost of living are having to find ways to manage their budgets and cut down on spending. For some, that means cutting out swimming lessons for kids, but surf lifesavers warn such a move would rob kids of vital skills that could one day save a life.
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00:00 For this swim class, learning to safely cross this Gold Coast creek, the reward is buried
00:07 treasure.
00:08 Whoa, what is that?
00:09 So we let the children know that we have to swim to the other side of the creek to get
00:14 the pirate treasure and the mermaid treasure.
00:17 Oh my goodness.
00:18 But for swim instructor Skye Bond, it's a serious life skill.
00:23 In a situation like a creek or going out with outgoing tide and stuff like that, would not
00:27 be able to save themselves.
00:29 She teaches kids as young as three years old how to handle natural waterways safely.
00:35 Not everyone goes, "Oh my kid can swim in a backyard pool."
00:38 Backyard pools are a lot different than these creeks.
00:40 Bec Pirahy's daughter is one of these students.
00:44 While caring for her other child, Bec's three-year-old fell off a small jetty.
00:49 I was very panicked.
00:52 I was equally trying to get the baby off me and get to Molly at the same time.
00:57 But the swimming lessons kicked in.
00:59 She kind of just managed to swim her way back to the jetty and grab onto the jetty so then
01:04 I could pull her back up.
01:07 I know how quickly that could have gone badly.
01:10 Skye Bond has been a lifesaver for 40 years.
01:14 She's seeing more and more kids failing basic swimming skills.
01:18 I was taken back on how many could not swim.
01:24 And they live on the Gold Coast.
01:25 A Swim Safer report released this week shows nearly half of families don't have their children
01:30 enrolled in swimming lessons because they think they're too young to learn.
01:35 While 38% think that swimming lessons are just too expensive.
01:40 That swimming is just another thing they've got to pay for.
01:45 But to me, swimming is like the number one.
01:48 There's no other sport that saves your life.
01:49 A lesson for children and adults alike.
01:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]