Vertical swimming - a drowning waiting to happen

Flotation devices such as floaties, inflatable rings, etc., often can provide a false sense of security for parents and children. These items can easily deflate or fall off your child's arm, leaving them in a potentially dangerous situation. Why invest money into Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) Self-Rescue® instruction when you are going to strap on a puddle jumper afterward?
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Flotation devices are for children who cannot swim. Children, who cannot swim, should NOT be allowed to learn that it is safe to play in the water while relying on a flotation device.

​A fellow ISR instructor gave a great analogy by comparing our lessons and structure to your child innocently 'playing in a puddle jumper' by using sports as an example such as baseball. You spend time teaching your child how to swing a bat and he's doing a great job. Next thing you know he is putting his elbow up in the air while batting and causing a bad habit. You obviously can't let him continue without adjusting. Practicing that incorrect swing over and over would not be productive. What would happen during a game? What would happen to his confidence? We want him to practice correctly and succeed at that skill. 

Flotation devices are for children who cannot swim. Children, who cannot swim, should NOT be allowed to learn that it is safe to play in the water while relying on a flotation device. Life jackets must be worn in a boat or around the water when there is the potential for an accidental 'fall-in'. They are not a substitute for the ability to swim or for adult supervision. ​

Infant Swimming Resource’s core conviction is that the child is the most important part of a drowning prevention strategy and our over 300,000 ISR graduates and 800 documented survival stories are proof that children can save themselves. Children are curious, capable, and have an uncanny ability to overcome obstacles like pool fences; at Infant Swimming Resource we take that ability and teach them skills to potentially save themselves if they find themselves in the water alone.

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