Deby Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Does anyone know if there is a safe age for children to be in the pool by themselves. We have guests at the moment (Swedes) when I discovered their 10 year old in the pool swimming by herself. Is this o.k. I felt rather uncomfortable what if she slipped and banged her head? She could swim, but our pool has a depth of 2 metres. I am not even sure if there is a law, but even if there is not, do you think it is reasonable to state that children less than 14 should not be allowed to swim by themselves. Or even if there were a group of youngsters - should they be allowed to swim without an adult present.I do not wish to start creating a long lists of do's and don'ts for guests either and people SHOULD be responsible enough.What do you think?Deby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie15 Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Hi.I worried about this so we included it in our terms and conditions,which the clients must signThe Client agrees to ensure that all children and non swimmers shall be supervised by an able bodied swimmer; the Owners accept no liability for the use of the swimming pool Don't know if this is helpful to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddie Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 DebyI always worry about this too. I make people fully aware when they arrive that no unsupervised swimmng is allowed. I think providing your pool complies with the regs (fencing/alarm etc) and you have made people fully aware of the safety procedures and your "rules" then there is little else you can practically do.Nicola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Should anyone be swimming on their own? I think that it should be drawn to the attention of all that the pool is un supervised and that people swim at their own risk anyway. Complicated isn't it. From around the age of seven I used to catch the bus to our town baths about four nights a week and go for a swim. Ofcourse these were public baths and the pool was obviously supervised. And I could swim far better than many of the adults even at that age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 After watching some interesting things at other pools, we included in our rental agreement form a POOL RULES form. I know it may sound a bit extreme, but it really just covers the basics of no children under the age of 16 swimming without adult supervision, no glass in the pool area, no folks with contagious illnesses to enter pool - skin, pink eye, etc., no folks who have been drinking alcohol just prior to swimming.I suppose some people may think it a bit much, but I was so worried about all these things, my husband suggested I have each guest sign the form to make me feel a little less stressed out.Anyway, that is what we do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Lori, Do you warn people in advance that you are so strict ie is it with the agreement you send out? And pool rules were one of the reasons we left a hotel in Boston. Fortunately one only has to give a day's notice in some hotels so our longish stay reduced to two nights and we went elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Are those rules strict ? They seem very similar to those I have seen when Eurocamping in France. Maybe 16 is a little old, but probably better safe than sorry .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayB Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 [quote]Are those rules strict ? They seem very similar to those I have seen when Eurocamping in France. Maybe 16 is a little old, but probably better safe than sorry ....[/quote]**Are those rules strict ?**Anyone of any age who goes swimming without another person in attendence is a fool, IMO. You NEVER know what might happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Yes I send the pool rules with the Rental Confirmation Form. I make sure ALL the data is sent to the guest(s) BEFORE they send their deposit.I know 16 seems a bit old too, but teenagers (have one) can be pretty wild - it all just depends on the person and the family. So far, no one has had a problem with signing the form.I forgot to mention, our pool is 1.8 meters at the deep end, so the number one rule on the form is NO DIVING and of course SWIM AT YOUR OWN RISK - which I suppose isn't worth all that much, but I put it on there anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaligoBay Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Does anyone know if there is a safe age for children to be in the pool by themselves. We have guests at the moment (Swedes) when I discovered their 10 year old in the pool swimming by herself. Is this o.k. I felt rather uncomfortable what if she slipped and banged her head? She could swim, but our pool has a depth of 2 metres. Deby, my son's friend has always been allowed to swim alone. He's a latchkey kid, both parents work full-time, and they seem to have no problem with him swimming when he's alone, on the grounds that he'll be okay because he's "in his depth", i.e. the water is just up to his chest. And he has reached the great age of 11 with no mishaps.But I'm with Ray, I don't like the thought of anyone swimming alone, no matter what the age. These T&Cs that other people have mentioned, are they legally binding, do they actually constitute a contract between you and the guests? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 SaligoBay - as far as legally binding, I suspect not. An accident is an accident. I suppose the signature on the rules list certainly couldn't hurt our case, but I am sure the cause and type of accident would also come into play. We have the approved alarm system on our pool and don't take children under the age of 6, but I am sure liability would be high in any case. The signature on the rules page is really to make sure that the guests understand that we are very aware of pool dangers and we want them to be too. It is also there to be sure that they understand that NO child swims without adult supervision. Probably not legally binding, just a sort of "heads up" reminder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 Sorry Lori about another question, but what does 'don't take children under the age of six', mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 We don't rent to people who have children under the age of 6 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 Thanks, I wasn't sure what you meant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 Yes, alarm or no alarm, I don't think I could sleep at night knowing there are toddlers on the property. A good friend of mine lost their 2 year old to drowning in their own home swimming pool. A dreadful thing to even imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deby Posted June 11, 2005 Author Share Posted June 11, 2005 A good friend of mine lost their 2 year old to drowning in their own home swimming pool. A dreadful thing to even imagine.Awful thing. This is the downside of having a pool. Even though we have a compliant fence, a gate the closes by itself, I still fuss and worry about it. My three year old lost one of his arm bands the other day when I was present and he was struggling immediately. We would like to restore the ornamental pond on a property, but again yet another water hazard, so we probably won't!I know you cannot wrap children up in cotton wool, but water is such an attraction to children.Thanks everyone for your comments. I have now amended our Pool Safety regs to include Children under 14 must not swim unsupervised and I have stated it is not recommended that anyone swim alone. Hopefully people will have the common sense to make their own decisions.Deby (17 Charente Maritime) where the sun is shining and still no rain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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