I came across this article which I must definitely share with you guys.
Personally, I don't really feel comfortable with our kiddos using the ring float and either hubby or myself will always be around to hold onto our younger kiddos when we're in the pool. The older ones who can float by themselves (wearing arm floats and they have been taught to hold their breath in the water and keep themselves afloat) will be under our watchful eyes as well.
As for outdoor activities (as per this article), I think there should be more staff or resources to monitor and watch out the children. If you observe in the video, the teacher was preoccupied with another child as the boy drowns. This could've been easily avoided if there are more eyes to watch after the children.
You can watch the video here or by clicking on the image below which will lead you to the source article.
For your convenience, I have copied the excerpts from the article here:
A three-year-old child in north-west China nearly drowned after he flipped over his rubber ring and was left struggling underwater for at least two minutes. Neither of the two instructors at the children's pool noticed the boy immersed in the water upside down despite standing right next to him. The child was finally removed from the pool after one of the teachers noticed his motionless body. He remains under intensive care in hospital.
The boy was taking part in a swimming lesson at a kindergarten in Zhangjiakou city, Hebei province when the accident happened. Surveillance footage of the horrifying incident shows the boy wearing an inflatable ring playing in the pool among nine other classmates. He then accidentally flips backwards, plunging his head underwater. The boy was seen desperately to stay afloat, wriggling his legs in the air and trying to flip his ring back.
His teacher, who was also in the pool, was seen attending to another student and did not notice the drowning child. It did not occur to the other children who were beside him that something was wrong with their friend. After struggling in vain for about 40 seconds, the child eventually ran out of breath and passed out. He was seen floating motionless at one end of the pool.
Nearly half a minute had passed before the boy was finally discovered by his shocked teachers. When he was lifted out of the water, the little boy was not breathing and his faced had turned purple, according to Hebei Youth Daily. He was immediately taken to hospital where doctors fortunately saved him.
The incident sparked outrage among net users - many of whom are parents themselves. 'The kindergarten should be held responsible for this incident. The child could have died,' one user commented. 'The accident could have caused permanent brain damage to the boy! The teachers' actions are just unacceptable,' another said.
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