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Child Drownings In Germany Linked To Parents' Obsession With Mobile Phones (theguardian.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the phone-fixation dept.

The German Lifeguard Association (DLRG) has made a direct connection between children getting into difficulty in the water and parents being too busy on their mobile phones to notice. More than 300 people have drowned in Germany so far this year. The Guardian reports: "Too few parents and grandparents are heeding the advice: when your children and grandchildren are in the water, put your smartphone away," Achim Wiese, the DLRG's spokesman, said. "We're experiencing on a daily basis that people treat swimming pools like a kindergarten and simply don't pay attention," added Peter Harzheim of the German federation of swimming pool supervisors. "In the past, parents and grandparents spent more time with their children in the swimming pool. But increasing numbers of parents are fixated by their smartphones and are not looking left or right, let alone paying attention to their children," he told German media. "It's sad that parents behave so neglectfully these days." The organization also put some blame on the school system for not making swimming lessons required from an early age. "Budget cuts have also led to swimming pools shortening their opening times," adds The Guardian.

1 of 172 comments (clear)

  1. Re:GP isn't very accurate. by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Informative

    You are comparing apples and oranges. In the Netherlands, swimming is far more common. There is water everywhere, they go swim everywhere.

    Errr no. Sorry not even remotely. The vast majority of the country is perfectly dry as far as ability to swim is concerned. Most people do not swim in the canals, and large numbers of lakes are off limits in summer due to algae, but rather people swim at a few usually crowded public pools or at a select few beaches, beaches where you will see a large number of cars with white licenseplates with a little D listed under the EU symbol.

    The Dutch do engage in a lot of water activities, but most of those do not take place in the water, rather on the water, or my favourite: trying to jump over water without getting wet.