Swim Test

At the beach there are more rules than we're used to at a beach. My kids are accustomed to MY watching them, MY enforcing safety rules, and MY allowing or disallowing whatever activity. They're not used to there being lifeguards around to do those things. (I guess if that's all you've experienced in your swim-life, it's almost like the lifeguards are usurping Mom's place.)

So today Maggie and I are at the beach. There is a rule that kids under 14 must pass a swim test to go into the deep section of the lake, out to the raft, off the diving board. Okay, so Maggie goes out and swims and gets her little wristband and goes off happily to play in the water. Personally, I think it should be my problem if I'm dumb enough to let her go in above her head if'n she's an incompetent swimmer. But most people think it's the government's job to protect everybody, so the government has set up these rules about the swim test and have provided gobs of lifeguards at the lake.

And today I saw why.

Parent after parent questioned the lifeguards when their kids didn't pass the swim test. One little girl walked the path for the test, moving her arms in a swimming motion. Maybe she was trying to scam the lifeguards, or maybe she just is too little to know what swimming IS. Some kids couldn't even swim half the distance without stopping to stand up. When the lifeguards said "no" to giving the kids permission to go into the deep end, the parents questioned: Why won't you let my kid swim here? Uhhh, that would be because the water is 30' deep and when your kid tries to stand up because he can't swim that far, he'll drown; he can swim in the shallow sections. And the parents would get huffy about it.

I just don't get it.