Proactive > Reactive

 

As a society, we never seem to fail when it comes to throwing money at a problem after the fact.  It's a simple "equation":

Delayed Action + Tragic Consequences/Results = Outrage + After-the-Fact Funding

Have y'all noticed what many Parks & Recreation departments in our country are doing to their "aquatics" programs?

via City of Bay City

Yeah, they're shutting down those cement ponds and opening up splash pads.

Why?

$$$

P&R departments are gutting aquatics.  Shuttered pools means fewer swim lessons.  It's not going to end well for our young people.

Olympic gold-medalist Cullen Jones has been pushing learn-to-swim for YEARS.  He's especially focused on his community - the most UNDERSERVED in our society.

Click to read his opinion piece in USA Today:

I almost drowned before I won a gold medal swimming.

We have to teach Black kids to swim.

Exerpts:

It’s my hope this letter will help bring attention to the importance of diversity and inclusion in learning to swim for all children. So here is my call to parents, families and communities to prioritize water safety and drowning prevention as we work together to combat childhood drowning.

Sadly, drowning remains the No. 1 cause of injury-related death among children ages 1 to 4. Every day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three children in the United States fall victim to the lethal dangers that are associated with water-related accidents.

In addition, it has been reported that more than 60% of African American children cannot swim, leaving millions of families questioning what they could have done to prevent the unthinkable.

Solution?

I guess we'll count on our public education system to pick up the slack, right?

It's fashionable to knock public ed, but the bottom line is:

They'll do the job if cities & counties can't/won't!

Sure, it means we'll have to focus less on ___, ___, & ___ (Fill in the blanks with topics so ridiculous, it's crazy we feel a need to insert them in public education!).