The DCI is right. The worlds gone soft :cry: Liberalism is a disease and I for one am not catching it... :mad:

I had grommets put in when I was 6 or so so missed out on the typical leaning to swim years as I couldn't submerge my head for a while (think my mum went a bit over the top with that actually, could have gone in a pool after 6 months I'm sure, but I digress). I wasn't scared of water but couldn't swim without a float - the primary school lessons were useless.

I did an intensive course that was actually intended for adults when I was about 10. It lasted 5 days and I was in the pool all morning each day as I recall, there were 2 instructors for about 6 students so you get some proper attention. It was in a hotel's pool that they had rented so there was no one else to get in the way/laugh at you ;) It was probably expensive but definitely worth it as it taught me to swim reasonably well. I think the fact I was there every day for a week was key to it.

I would suggest such a course for your son, once you've got him past the fear of water stage. It sounds like he dislikes the pool rather than is terrified of it; I would suggest this probably stems from being embarassed he can't swim, rather than something like hydrophobia that actually needs councelling. Doing an intensive course away from his peers is what he needs IMHO. It will be worth it an he will thank you for it one day :)

I skived games the entire way through secondary school. The problem was not the excercise or activity itself- more the fact i didnt particuarly want to do it at school, especially with a bunch of f*cknuts and games teachers trying to make you take showers afterwards so they could take a peek :freak3:
The fact that I swam for my city team at the time, and my retarded games teacher wanted to try to teach me a basic front crawl didnt really help with my desire to want to do it at school!


I really don't think that him learning to swim in front of his classmates will do any good- kids are evil *******s to one another- and that is just asking to be picked up on IMHO.
Get him some help and taught outside of school until he is comfortable with it.
Failing that, if he really REALLY doesnt/cant/wont do it- then why force him?

If you as his parent(s)/guardian don't want him to do it, then the school cant exactly make him!

p.s- easy excuse- say he has ear problems/grommets in his ears. Can't make him swim then ;)

Scoobyster....done that course thing....twice actually but still a no-no.

We even paid for an instructor to have one-to-one with him, two 45mins a week, then a different one on Saturday mornings.....made no difference...could have saved ourselves a bit of money. That went on for a year .....not interested, just had the screaming abdabs everytime it was swimming day....that instructor said there was nothing more he could do and agreed we were wasting our money.
The school didn`t bother much either, once the other kids got swimming and moved up a group, he was left on his own in the shallow end. I did speak to the teacher at the time but she said it was compulsory to do swimming in primary school!!!!!

Now what do I do.....he`ll be home in about half an hour and I've told him to ask for an appointment for us to go and see the tutor.....suppose I'll play it by ear and see how it goes.....(scuse the pun)


Joan

If he is afriad of having a shower then surely after PE doing "dirty" sports such as Rugby, in the middle of wet, muddy winter, he is going to get the mick taken real bad? I know when I was at school if there was somebody who would have not got in the shower because they were scared they would have had a real bad time..... :(

Agree with all the other posts that it really needs to be sorted out. Being able to swim is one of lifes essentials. Is he scared of water full stop? Would he go on a ferry for example?

wont wash his hair ! what about getting his haircut, does he like that ? he sounds like a real life Denis the Menace :lol1:

Swim or die........... that's his choice....... I mean "Harrison" and "Ginger Hair" and "Has a Hissy Fit before Swimming" and "Cries when he Washes His Hair"............

I feel like bullying him myself at the moment........ ;)

Can you not swop him for another one that can swim on ebay.

Just re-read the title - SECONDARY SCHOOL FFS :eek:

Why is being able to swim so crucial?
Im 28 and cant swim for sh1t.

My eldest sister is a very good swimmer and took me to the pool from quite a young age, but I just couldnt get the hang of it. Swimming lessons at school were a farce and did no better for me either.
Im not scared of the water or anything (im not ginger either ;) ) but I simply cant swim.
On holidays im happy to go into the pool and splash about (shallow end!) just to join in / perve at the ladies, but the best I can manage is maybe half-way across a pool via a frantic splashing style that people often mistake for me drowning, which i nearly am.
This hasnt bothered me in the slightest.

does it really matter if he can't swim?

we all have choices to make in this life and if he doesn't want to swim why make him?

he enjoys other sports so i don't see what the big issue is with him not swimming...

maybe he is also conscientious about the changing rooms, just a thought.

Thats great sentiment - but in the real world it can amount to him being singled out, wrongly, but singled out none the less. And as I mentioned earlier 70% of the world is water, it could save his life and he could help save the life of others, for what is a simple thing.

Pandering and mothering children is the usual cause and some of my daughters friends who act this way are the ones I always hear the stories about being picked on :(

No one is trying to make him take ecstacy or live a life of sin.

:lol1:

give it 5 years or so :thumb:

Are you saying he has ginger pubes and a little nob?............ :D

I think he does need to learn. If he's not good at cricket or footy then he might get the piss taken a bit and get picked last but swimming is one of those things that do actually matter for the rest of your life in all sorts of situations.

It depends what you look like, post a pic of yourself and I will tell you if you can come in the shower and wash my hair :D

No one seems to have pointed out the simple fact it might save his life one day ? :eek: :confused:

Don't panic ,just wait a few years then show him some pictures of young girls in their bikinis ,he'll be Olympic standard in no time.

As usual the DCI is spot on, maybe hire DCI to teach him?

I didn't learn until I joined the Army at 17. The instructor coaxed me gently to the top diving board and pushed me in with a big stick.

The lesson consisted of him laughing at me drowning until I learnt.





After 4 weeks of drowning practise at 0430 everyday I was quite good.

I move better in water than on land.

I did twice :)

Doh! Did skim for that but didn't see it in the posts. Surely that's the deal breaking argument? :D

My old Man used to pick me up on Saturdays and take me to the local pool where he thought it funny to keep dunking me until I swallowed a load of water and couldn't breathe......
The blue skin must of scared him somewhat as he never did it after that......
For many years after I had a bit of a "phobia" about people dunking me if I wasn't ready to take a breath first.. Everyone always thought it funny.... :mad:

Somehow got over it gradually and ended up loving the water, in fact wanted to be under it rather than swimming along it's surface.
You would most likely find me with my fingers in the grate at the bottom of the deepend, seeing how long I could hold my breath for. :D

When I learned to SCUBA dive it was as if I was meant to be there, all the tasks you were made to do just came naturally. :thumb:

Anyway I'm rabbling on...
The moral here is don't throw the ginger in the deepend, he's scared enough as it is.
Floatation I think is the key, once he's calmed down enough to realise he aint going to drown with arm bands on / holding on to a foam float, then you can move on.
Although having read about the fact he doesn't even like his face to get wet in the shower I think you need to start further back still....
The root cause needs to be found first and then you can progress from that.

55m of salt water above you.... that's where it's at. :thumb:

Andy

I think that may freak the kid out just a bit too much :D

I love swimming & the water, tried diving but didn't like it. Difficult to describe the feeling, but somehow almost felt claustrophobic :confused:

How the hell does that make any sense :wonder: :D

Which school does he go to? You should have thought about things and sent him to one without a swimming pool (like Boys High). I know that you live round my way, and I suspect you've sent him to a school with a ****ing great swimming pool next door... ;)

Ask the school if he can take his bike in the pool. :thumb:

same here, mother has coached for 20 years, i was in a club for 15 years and a lifeguard for 10..................did SCUBA, pass my PADI referal with ease and thought it was crap, even cancelled my Maldives holiday last year because the plan was to dive but i didnt fancy it anymore.

I can't swim either. When I was 7 I nearly drowned and since then I have had no inclination to learn. In fact on holiday I sort of swim around the pool, but I can only float when moving, if I try to tread water I sink...lol A pool the size of a private villa one does me just fine.

In school I seem to remember we had lessons using floats and such like, however they didn't last very long as the school I went to didn't have a pool :D

Never bothered me as an adult, my wife swims so she has the job of teaching the kids. Mind you my youngest is "strawberry blonde" and wil not go anywhere near water. Maybe it's a hair colour thing?