Summertime is finally here, and the American Academy of Pediatrics is urging caution when it comes to summer splashing, abc News reports.
Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for those younger than 19, and black children allegedly drown at a rate more than three times that of white children.
While 40 percent of white children were found to have low or no swimming ability , the same was true for nearly 70 percent of African-American children, a USA Swimming survey finds. Latino children also lag in their swimming level, with 58 percent at low or no swimming ability.
Aside from having fear of water, experts cite the key factor in young African American's not knowing how to swim is that their own mother's and father's did not know how, and didn't encourage their children to.
[mashshare]