This pre-school class isn't waving!

Imagine driving by your local preschool and seeing 32 children aged under five running around and having a good time.

Now imagine this class being wiped out by a single tragedy....... the headlines would be screaming for something to be done about it!

The sad reality is that in Australia the equivalent of this class is wiped out by a tragedy each and every year! It is just that in most circumstances it happens one child at a time.

The 2009 National Drowning Report compiled by Royal Life Saving Society Australia, was launched today at Parliament House in Canberra, by the Honourable Kate Ellis, Federal Minister for Early Childhood Education, Child Care and Youth and Minister for Sport. The Samuel Morris Foundation was represented at the launch, and has recorded a couple of media pieces for Royal Life in support of the launch.

The 2009 National Drowning Report revealed that in the last year another 32 children aged 0-4 lost their lives to drowning. Sixty percent of these deaths occurred in domestic swimming pools.

Most people think.... it would never happen to me I'm not one of "those parents" what were those parents doing while their child was drowning?.

It's a sad assumption to make...... if you want to know why read this story about those parents, Darcie was one of the lucky ones, her son got a second chance! Or click on the links in the right menu bar to some of the other first hand stories and their consequences.

The reality is for every drowning death in Australia there are another four children admitted to hospital following a near drowning and 1/5th of them will experience a brain injury that leaves them with disabilities for life.

So almost another pre-school class who will never experience life the same again!

What do you think we can ALL do to make our children safer in and around the water? And remember as Darcie says in her post....." Sometimes bad things just happen, to good people, to good parents even!"



I'd love to hear your views...