06/05/2026
Unpopular Opinion: Flotation Devices Aren't a Substitute for Swim Skills.
Recently, I have been getting emails and messages from parents telling us that they understand why they shouldn’t use a puddle jumper, and asking if they can use a life jacket instead.
Here's how we really feel about flotation devices:
When it comes to drowning prevention, there are no shortcuts. Unfortunately, the life jackets are going to teach your children the same thing that puddle jumpers do if you use them all of the time when in the pool.
They will still make your child think that they can float on their own, when they really can’t.
They will still teach your child to arch their head when swimming, which pulls their legs down and gets them into that vertical position ... the drowning position.
They will still teach your child to tread water, not swim.
They will still teach your child to bicycle their arms and legs in the water, which will only exhaust them, not get them moving to safety.
They will still teach your child that its ok to be independent in the water when they aren’t actually ready for that, and this right here is the thing that will convince them to go back to water without you and without the device.
Flotation devices like life vests are not and were never meant to be used to allow your child independence in the water. They are not and were never meant to help them learn to swim.
They were developed to be worn around open water, in case of a sudden and accidental fall into the water. That’s it. Not for pools, not for recreational swimming, not for allowing independence or helping parents with multiple kids manage all of them in the pool.
So if you want to protect your kids in open water, coast guard approved life vests are the way to go! But we have normalized using these devices all of the time and everywhere and it’s causing our kids to drown.
We have to change that. We have to normalize and standardize skilling kids in the water: Teaching them how to float on their backs on their own. Teaching them to propel through the water. Teaching them how to get out of the water.
Think skills, not flotation.
