Do you feel its smart to push/throw someone in the water/pool as a way to teach them how to swim?

Question

Sorry, but i’ll never agree with that method. I hate to see it. Yes you may be more capable of saving yourself when under pressure but for those who panic rather than think, they’re likely to drown.
#FeelFreeToList #HandsUp

aWes0MeNeSs · Accepted Answer

I think all that will do is cause them to be terrified of the water and want nothing to do with it ever again. Drowning is a very reasonable fear, and this will only blow that even further out of proportion.

I rode horses for years and witnessed a similar situation, but with a different hobby; I knew several people who believed that riding horses that were inappropriate for their skill level or even borderline dangerous to ride in general (if not even fully dangerous) and having nasty falls on a regular basis was a good way to push them to be better riders. There are still people who believe that, but in my experience all it did was create very nervous and defensive riders (which tend to make horses very nervous and are so tense they end up making more mistakes) who eventually wanted to quit riding, as usually they ended up having a nasty fall that resulted in an injury or a very close call. In fact, I had heard a lot of that train of thought growing up and tried to push through with a horse of my own who was not safe under saddle, even continuing after I'd been hurt in a fall off of said horse. It's no surprise that I had more bad experiences and my confidence ended up being ruined to the point of being one of the reasons I quit riding. I've also seen people apply a similar train of thought to training the horses themselves (putting them in situations that terrify them, such as just hopping on an unbroke horse with no preparation beforehand and "cowboying" them, tying them and letting them pull back in a halter until they injure or kill themselves, etc.), and knew a couple of horses this type of training did a lot of damage to that was hard to undo, as the horses remembered their bad experience and expected the worst. I know horses and people aren't the same, but it's a similar concept and the results are pretty similar.

ItsMeElliana · Accepted Answer

This was done to me by my brother's wife. and she was like go in the water it'd be fun and pushed me in, and I was about to drown to death and then she saw me just still under water and pulled me out. and i was choking hard i couldn't breathe and was also crying.. they gave me towels and rubbed my hands idek what just happened but this was like two years ago... it was cool
oh and once that month i also saved my younger sister from drowning because I don't know what happened and i looked away for a second, and she was underwater and wasn't moving, so I got so scared and held her hand and pulled her out and she just choked for a bit and uh yeah thank god...

Mynameisbobby · Accepted Answer

I agree with you it's a terrible way of teaching someone to swim. Some people are so scared of the water that they would just freeze up and sink and drown. I get that your instincts are supposed to kick in but if you're too scared they are not going to. Whoever said that is the best way of learning how to swim must have been one of those macho guys that calls everyone a wimp.

DaveJord · Accepted Answer

I was taught this way and worked very well... but I would never recommend that you do this to someone. I was just very lucky and probably naturally inclined to be a good swimmer... which honestly I am a very good swimmer.

DO NOT just throw a none swimmer in a pool... I know plenty of others that were emotionally scared and into their adult years are scared of the water.

ShaTTeredMasterpeace · Answer

Hell no. All it does is make people more traumatized. I had a kid at a pool try to drag me into the deep end. He wouldn't listen to me when I said I couldn't swim and he wouldn't let go of me until I started screaming at the top of my lungs. Like drowning is my top fear. I don't play that shit. My future kids will be getting lessons at a very early age.

Apple1996 · Answer

No this does not work. My siblings did that to me as a kid and it just made me hate pools. Also still don't know how to swim so obviously didn't work.

AviatorTom · Answer

No, it's a bad idea. All is does is increase the person's fear of the water.

Little ones often don't like to get in the water... getting them to jump into their parent's arms in the pool is a good way to get them acclimated to the water, step one in learning to swim.

ArrowheadSW · Answer

It is a horrible thing to do. I can't conceive in any way how that could be good. I worked with a guy like that unfortunately. For me it wasn't bad because I was trained long before I worked with him, but he had that attitude towards training new employees. It totally frustrated new employees to be thrown into a situation they weren't familiar with. He thought they'd learn by figuring it out on their own, which was rarely the case.

Apulu_3 · Answer

Hell no it is very dangerous. It was done to me in 6 feet water. The swimming teacher said to one of the senior to teach me swimming while she goes and check the other students. She pushed me in the pool and I almost drowned and until other senior came and helped me out of the pool. I still don't know how to swim. My swimming teacher have even told this is a very risky method and shouldn't be tried.

The_Maphio · Answer

It's pretty dumb. If one fears water and you push them in by surprise they'll never attain the peace of mind necessary for them to learn. If anything, they'll only end up fearing the water more. Nothing done in a traumatic way represents a good learning opportunity. The mind needs to be present, without instincts kicking in.

Jaximus-Lion · Answer

Throwing people just like that can lead to mistrust and creating fear/phobia. If ot worked for some it does not mean it's the right way but not more than just a way. Teach them step by step and enjoy it, it's fun. I taught my cousin, he was 24-25 years old, he can swim now but he is not a good swimmer, we didn't have more time and now he lives in Canada

dustybiker · Answer

I was four when I did this to my older sister.
She was standing on the edge dipping her foot in. I had already been in and liked it, temp was perfect.
I went up to her and nudged her.
It was honestly completely helpful. Zero malice.
She came back up so damn pissed off. lol
Seeing her raw anger, I immediately burst into tears. She stopped and just shook her head at me.
Bittersweet life lessons..

MrOracle · Answer

No. You can learn to swim in 3' of water, which is shallow enough to easily stand up in whenever you need to. There's no need to traumatize someone.

I've taught a bunch of people how to swim, and they didn't go to the deep end until they were ready.

MTC29 · Answer

Even people who know how to swim can be caught totally by surprise and panic in the water. They can also hit their head on the edge of the pool. During the summers, the city I grew up in offered free swimming lessons at the high school pools. My mom had no money, so if there was anything offered for free, she made sure that my sister and I were there!

t-8900 · Answer

this is how i learned to swim lol. It was traumatizing af. Grandparents sent me to a school where they taught Olympians or something. i remembed i was like maybe 4 or 5 at the time. I ended up not being able to come up so out of desperation I bit the calf of one of the instructors and he kicked me off. My grandparents were freaking out.

humpbackjack · Answer

That’s how I learned how to swim but with my girls I taught them how to swim by showing them and teaching them we had a pool and I had nightmares about my youngest falling in so I built a fence and taught them all and kept a bunch of the cheap arm floaties on hand they’re the best those stupid vests or rings around the waist especially the rings built into the bathing suits are dangerous for babies and little kids they get flipped upside down and drown

Titanic1912 · Answer

It’s terrible. If someone couldn’t swim and someone else pushed them in, they could easily drown. They should always take swimming lessons in a shallow end of a pool before going to the deeper ends. I took swimming lessons and I became a very good swimmer.

whosDmann · Answer

Back in the day and I'm mean like the 80's / 90' s for u kids... still not really right to throw someone in the pool , back them people hardly would have flinched to the situation... today's world a lot of kids are soo sissified they would get more butt hurt than anything... and then you have some stranger also voicing their opinions...

loves2learn · Answer

Hell no. As a former lifeguard and water safety instructor that is incredibly dangerous and damaging. Work with them on their swimming skills and comfort in the water. Not try to kill them.

Morgador · Answer

My mom did that to me. I was like 6 months old and I grew up on a ranch so she threw me in the stock tank and it was about 6 feet deep and I sunk and disappeared under water then I floated up and started swimming. I DO NOT RECOMMEND doing this too anyone to make them learn though!

electromagnetic · Answer

I can swim but I can only imagine the sheer terror in someone's face realizing they might drown because some fucker decided to push them into the water.

Hans222 · Answer

B Desi. You can "push a little" with words to get kids into the water and start to learn to swim. But not with the level of physical agression shown there 🙈😩

all_hayl · Answer

That’s not an instinct that people are born with. People have to LEARN to swim. Add in the fear/panic of immensely drowning, and bad things happen.

TrueConfection · Answer

That sounds like a fast way to make a child fearful of the water.

Do you feel its smart to push/throw someone in the water/pool as a way to teach them how to swim?

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