I came across this article which I must definitely share with you all. For your convenience, I have copied the excerpts from the article here. You can watch the original source video by clicking on the image below or just load the video I embedded at the end of this post.
I am definitely not a swimming expert so I don't know whether this technique is good or not. On one hand I could see how if a child is able to learn this skill will help in the event of accidental drowning but watching this video just gave me mix feelings. I was already gasping as the baby fell head first (what if she hits her head on the steps??!!!) and then hearing her muffled cries (it sounded like that to me) and then the long wait for her to be rescued... oh dear... it's really hard to watch this video.
Captioned "So hard to watch but every kid should learn this young," a viral video of a baby who appears to be struggling to swim is stirring up mixed reactions from viewers.
Uploaded to Facebook on May 2 by user "DOV," the roughly two-minute clip shows a baby girl being lured into a pool, then falling face-first into the water. The baby appears to struggle to keep her head up and is heard making soft, muffled cries as adults off-camera encourage her, repeating "Good girl!" She eventually flips onto her back and floats. The adults still do not pick her up.
After roughly 90 seconds, a woman lifts the baby out of the water and is heard saying "I've got you, baby." Keri Morrison, the Palm Beach County, Florida mom behind the viral video, swears by the method known as Infant Swimming Resource. The baby in the video is her daughter.
The ISR method starts with babies as young as 6 months. Infants are taught to roll onto their backs to float, rest and breathe, and maintain that position until help arrives.
"You're seeing a 6-month-old sitting on the steps playing, which can be a real-life situation, she falls in and she turns over and saves herself and floats for over a minute and a half," Morrison told NBC's "Today" show about the video. "I don't see how there could be anything negative about that."
Morrison lost her son three years ago in a drowning accident in Orlando. She started the Live Like Jake Foundation to promote drowning prevention and awareness, as well as to provide scholarships for swimming lessons. She and the organization strongly support the ISR method, providing videos and information on ISR on the Live Like Jake website.
"Children are curious, capable, and have an uncanny ability to overcome obstacles like pool fences," ISR says on its website. "At ISR we take that ability and teach them skills to potentially save themselves if they find themselves in the water alone."
So what do you think?
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