The city has canceled free swim lessons and private swim programs are feeling the squeeze from a lack of lifeguards. One expert said: “Some of those kids are going to drown.”
The impact of swim program cutbacks isn’t just about not having access to water in the summer. It could slow efforts to prevent drowning deaths among children of color. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports drowning death rates have dropped by 32 percent in the past decade enduring racial disparities in drowning deaths have not.
The impact of swim program cutbacks isn’t just about not having access to water in the summer. It could slow efforts to prevent drowning deaths among children of color. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports drowning death rates have dropped by 32 percent in the past decade enduring racial disparities in drowning deaths have not.