Citation

Langendorfer SJ, Quan L, Pia FA, Fielding R, Wernicki PG, Markenson D. Int. J. Aquatic Res. Educ. 2009; 3(4): 460-469.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Bowling Green State University)

DOI

10.25035/ijare.03.04.12

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The earliest and/or optimal age(s) at which aquatic skills should be introduced within structured (a.k.a., formal) swim lessons has continued to be a persistent and controversial issue in the aquatic and medical fields for over four decades. The controversy in part stems from differing theoretical perspectives underlying the nature of skill acquisition as well as the practical purposes for which swim lessons are offered. One developmental theory, maturation, assumes that all behaviors including aquatic skills change over time in a regular, ordered pattern as a result of internal, hereditary-based processes mainly dependent upon a person's chronologic age. A contrasting theory, learning, presumes that behavioral changes primarily depend upon specific environmental experiences or sometimes the interaction of those experiences with age. Finally, a new contemporary theory, dynamical systems, sees behavioral change as possessing inherent emergent char- acteristics strongly associated with the elements of complex systems as well as dynamic, physical, and psychological principles. Theoretical perspectives strongly influence how persons or organizations understand why and how behaviors such as aquatic skills change over time.

More pragmatically, aquatic programs, while indirectly and subtly influenced by theory, have been primarily shaped by their underlying purposes. For example, some programs offer swim lessons as a means to "drownproof" infants and young children. Some other programs have proposed offering swimming lessons at a young age in order to develop precocious swimming skills for fostering competi- tive swimming or survival skills. There is even one study that hypothesized early acquisition of swimming skills promotes enhanced motor control and coordina- tion as well as intellectual skills (Diem, 1982). In contrast, the primary national agencies in the U.S. (e.g., American Red Cross; YMCA of the USA) focus their swim programs for infants and young children around the concept of developing aquatic readiness and adjustment. These programs intend to prepare children to acquire swim skills and strokes at later ages and ultimately to improve water safety.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued several policy state- ments related to infant swimming that have cautioned against offering swimming lessons for infants and young children. The most recent policy statement (2003) recommends that all children learn to swim but continues to urge aquatic agencies and parents to restrict organized swimming lessons until after a child has reached the age of 4 years (48 months) "due to general developmental limitations" (AAP, 2000). Despite the AAP policy statements, the American Red Cross (1988; 1992; 2004; 2009) and YMCA of the USA (1987; 1999) along with other aquatic agen- cies offer infant aquatic programs for children beginning at around 6 months of age. Privately-sponsored swim schools and other programs (e.g., Infant Swim- ming Research; Infant Swimming Resources) offer swim lessons and "drown- proofing" programs for infants at even younger ages...

Language: en