Parent Letter to Retailers
Dear Retailer,
Drowning is the single leading cause of death in children ages 1-4 in the United States.
It is preventable — and while your company may unwittingly be contributing to this epidemic, you can be part of the solution.
We are the mothers, fathers, family, and friends of children who have drowned, and we are reaching out to you to bring your attention to a contributing factor which is within your power to change.
Flotation devices are being marketed and sold in a way that we believe increases the risk of children drowning.
Product packaging language makes such claims as “learn to swim easily,” “parents can finally enjoy peace of mind,” and “increase their confidence in water,” many parents find themselves using the products under false assumptions and developing a false sense of confidence and security when it comes to their child’s aquatic ability and safety.
Simply put, these devices do not teach children to swim, and their usage may actually increase the risk of drowning. Children should only use flotation devices that have been approved by the U.S. Coast Guard, and many of the products on the market lack this important certification. Flotation devices are ideal for protecting children who are around water for whom being in the water would be risky. This includes boating, recreating or swimming in open water, and being around water. Routine use of flotation devices in swimming pools and other swimming sites may actually increase risk of drowning, providing the child and parents a false sense of security in the water. We believe this contributes to the fact that almost 70% of young children who drown do so when it is not swim time. We ask that you bring your powerful voice to ensure that messages like these stop appearing on your website, in your marketing, and along your store’s aisles.
We also ask you to join forces with us at the National Drowning Prevention Alliance. Together with our consortium of parents, organizations, companies, leaders and change agents, we can End the Misinformation and make a significant impact on this most critical issue.
Please reach out to us so that we can share more about what is being done to prevent childhood drowning and how you can help.
Thank you,
Adam Katchmarchi, Ph.D.
Executive Director
National Drowning Prevention Alliance
Benjamin Hoffman, M.D.
Chief Medical Advisor
National Drowning Prevention Alliance
Sign Our “End The Misinformation” Letter
About Our Mission
At the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, part of our vision is to end childhood drowning – the single leading cause of death among children ages one to four.
One major challenge we face is the misleading and inaccurate information used to market and sell children’s flotation devices commonly used by millions of parents.
Some examples of these inaccuracies include:
- “learn to swim easily”
- “parents can finally enjoy peace of mind”
- “increase their confidence in water”
This product messaging is misleading at best – deadly at worst.
As a result of this language, many parents find themselves misusing the product and developing a false sense of confidence and security when it comes to their child’s aquatic ability and safety.
We need your help to “End The Misinformation” and save children’s lives!
We encourage you to take a moment to hear directly from Nicole Hughes as she bravely shares her personal story. Nicole lost her 3-year old son, Levi, in a tragic drowning accident which followed a day of playing in the pool while wearing a flotation device. Her story is incredibly powerful, and tragically, much too common.
There has never been a study to show that the use of flotation devices help children learn to swim as these misleading messages claim. And while flotation devices may have a place when used appropriately under the close supervision of an adult – their use and efficacy must be studied and proven before such claims can be made. If you share our vision to end childhood drowning, we ask that you please sign our “End The Misinformation” letter that we will be bringing to the retail industry to call attention to and address misleading marketing claims.
If you are a parent who has been impacted by this horrific tragedy, we invite you to share your story to help shed light on this issue.
Please know we are not asking for or encouraging public shaming of any retailers via social media or otherwise. We believe they – like many of us – have been unaware of this issue. Instead, we aim to gather as many voices and signatures as possible to create an incredible groundswell of support to help ensure that no parent or child is misled by this language.
Together with urgency and purpose, we can create change.
