Summer drowning warning

The pain of drowning has been and is continuing in many localities in the province. Photo: Document

Heartbreaking incidents

On May 24, the Department of Culture and Sports coordinated with Thai Hoa town to organize a ceremony to launch the 2019 National Swimming Practice and Drowning Prevention Campaign. During the ceremony, representatives of 11 mountainous districts, including Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Anh Son, Con Cuong, Quy Hop, Quy Chau, Que Phong, Thanh Chuong, Tan Ky, Nghia Dan and Thai Hoa town signed a commitment to the National Swimming Practice and Drowning Prevention Campaign.

On May 26, the Department of Culture and Sports continued to coordinate with the People's Committee of Yen Thanh district to organize the launching ceremony. At this ceremony, 10 districts, cities and towns in the delta including: Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Do Luong, Quynh Luu, Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan, Nghi Loc, Hoang Mai town, Cua Lo town and Vinh city also made commitments.

At these two ceremonies, representatives of the Department of Culture and Sports announced heartbreaking information: In Nghe An, in 2017, 24 students drowned, in 2018, 20 students, and in just the first 5 months of 2019, 29 students... After the two ceremonies, no one could have imagined that these heartbreaking numbers would continue. The situation of students and children drowning continues and increases sharply.

Coaches and athletes instruct first aid for drowning victims at the launching ceremony for the whole population to practice swimming and prevent drowning. Photo: Document

At noon on May 26, Nguyen Tien D. (11 years old), residing in block 3, Nghi Thuy ward, Cua Lo town, and some friends went to the beach to play. There, D. and 2 other friends went swimming. Because he did not know how to swim, he was drowned by the waves.

At 8:00 a.m. on May 27, after school, four primary school students from Hung Chau Primary School, Hung Nguyen District went down to the water hole at the foot of Nhon Mountain to bathe. While bathing, Nguyen Le Anh D., a 5A student (living in Hamlet 5, Hung Chau Commune) unfortunately fell into the deep water hole and drowned.

Trai Xanh Dam where 5 students drowned. Photo: Document

At 1:00 p.m. on May 30, a group of students from Trung Thanh Secondary School, Yen Thanh District, went to Trai Xanh Dam (in Bac Thanh Commune) for a picnic. While playing near the water's edge, one student slipped and fell into a deep hole. At that time, a group of 6 students jumped in to save him. One male student saved one female student, the remaining 5 students died.

At 2:30 p.m. on June 1, two children, Moong Chien T and Moong Van D, both born in 2015 and residing in Binh Son 1 village, Ta Ca commune, Ky Son district, went swimming in a river near the village. Because they did not know how to swim, Moong Chien T was swept away by the current for about 500 meters and died.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Health and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF): Every year, about 2,000 students nationwide drown.

Children lack skills, parents lack supervision

From the above tragic accidents, it can be seen that: Drowning accidents in children occur due to many causes, in which, the main cause is that children do not know how to swim and lack knowledge and skills to prevent drowning accidents; lack of supervision from adults, and subjectivity of parents allowing children to freely play in dangerous areas such as the sea, rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes.

Children practice swimming skills. Photo: Document

For many years, Nghe An has attached importance to the work of preventing drowning accidents for children and considered this an urgent issue, requiring the attention and participation of the whole society. Teaching swimming and water safety skills has been implemented by many levels of sectors, socio-political organizations, units in coordination with families.

However, it must be said that: Teaching swimming and water safety skills to children is still not widespread. Teaching swimming and water safety skills is only organized in batches, spontaneously, on a small scale, not regularly and continuously... so the number of children who know how to swim and have water safety skills is not much.

Nghe An has also had policies to encourage organizations and individuals to invest in building safe playgrounds and swimming pools to serve the needs of the people in general and children in particular in the area. However, the large investment capital and slow capital recovery have not attracted the participation of these subjects.

Nghia Thang commune delegation guides on drowning prevention skills. Photo: Document

In many localities, the state of construction, digging and exploiting sand and rocks without any sense of responsibility has left behind dangerous deep holes and ponds, such as lime pits, pits for making bricks and tiles, pits for getting sand, and pits for watering crops. Meanwhile, these places and many other dams, lakes, streams, and ponds do not have fences or warning signs.

On the family side, many parents are busy with work so they do not have much time to take care of their children; they do not fully anticipate the living environment factors that contain hidden factors that cause drowning accidents for children; they do not fully anticipate the special characteristics of children's personality that likes to explore. When summer comes, some children in rural and mountainous areas often sneak out of their parents to go out, bathe in rivers and streams.

Lack of playgrounds, need community involvement

The situation of children drowning also reflects another reality, which is the lack of playgrounds for children. In urban areas, when summer comes, there are many gifted and hobby classes organized, as well as many playgrounds for children to participate, play and entertain.

Summer Karate classes in Con Cuong attract many children to participate. Photo: Document

In rural and mountainous areas, children are at a disadvantage due to the lack of playgrounds. Socialized playgrounds are almost non-existent. Summer activities for children in communes, hamlets, and villages year after year revolve around just a few art competitions, soccer, group activities, and singing and dancing without any innovation. Many places cannot even organize playgrounds for children in the summer when local union members go to work far away.

Science has proven that healthy recreational and cultural activities help children develop and form their physical, intellectual, and personality... comprehensively. Without playgrounds and healthy recreational activities, children will lack confidence and have difficulty socializing... Not being able to participate in cultural, sports, and healthy recreational activities with traditional games will gradually fade the cultural identity in children's souls.

A paradox exists that rural areas, despite having a lot of land, still lack playgrounds for children. Existing infrastructure such as communal cultural houses have not yet been fully functional, lacking the necessary facilities to organize recreational activities for local children in the summer. Cultural houses are mainly used for meetings... Therefore, the story of children turning ponds, lakes, and canals into "swimming pools" and playgrounds in the summer is understandable.

The reality of drowning and the lack of playgrounds for children has sounded the alarm bell to raise awareness in protecting children's safety. What to do to have playgrounds for children during the summer? - According to Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Huong - former Deputy Director of the Institute of Culture and Development, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, building useful playgrounds for children is a common responsibility of the whole society.

To solve the lack of playgrounds, there needs to be strong participation from Party committees at all levels, local authorities as well as the whole community, starting with the smallest, specific actions, such as: Replacing and installing playground equipment; organizing effective and useful methods of operation at playgrounds... In the long term, planning a playground network for children from urban to rural areas needs to be taken into account, contributing to creating a healthy and useful environment for children to play and develop.

The Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament is a useful playground for children in the summer. Photo: Thanh Cuong

It is time for Nghe An to launch a strong movement to build playgrounds for children. Localities and relevant units need to include the construction of playgrounds for children as well as teaching swimming in their political tasks; consider this a criterion for evaluating competition... This summer 2019, the "thirst" for playgrounds for children in the province is still there!