Mayor Eric Adams Pushes For Child Safety By Expanding Free Swim Lessons Program To Underserved Communities

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal Black children are 1.5 times more likely to die from drowning in comparison to white children.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a $5.5 million expansion of the city’s free swim lesson program for children in underserved communities to learn the life-saving skill, ABC 7 NY reports.

The addition will allow almost 18,000 students to be served, targeting those the program doesn’t reach. The lessons will occur at city public school pools in select third-party locations. Approximately 4,800 second graders will also be allowed to participate.

In a statement, Adams referred to the Big Apple as a city that can be “the best place to raise a family” and feels the lessons will expand on that narrative. “To make New York City the best place to raise a family, we must continue to invest in the services that families need and deserve, and that includes swim safety,” the mayor said.

“Expanding free swimming classes will enrich our young people’s lives and keep them safe.”

Programs such as this are looked at as important, given the number of child deaths due to drowning. New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay says close to 11 people drown every day in the U.S., leading up to 1 in 4 children dying.

“So we’re losing 4,000 people a year to drowning. It’s the leading cause of death of children from 1 to 4,” Gay said, according to Rhode Island PBS.

Most of the numbers are due to segregation and disparities in African American communities. Gay highlighted how slavery and segregation contributed to the majority of minorities never having the opportunity to learn how to swim.

“It goes really deep. So, Black Americans, many people know we’re not allowed to learn how to read during slavery,” she said. “Many times, they also weren’t allowed to learn how to swim, and that’s because it would’ve made it easier to escape to freedom. Dogs couldn’t track your scent in water, which was known among enslaved Americans.”

During the Jim Crow era, city officials would often choose to fill in, destroy, or close public pools rather than give Black people the chance to swim in them.

“During segregation, you had public pools that were not open to Black Americans. So, white, wealthier Americans were able to start forming their own clubs, their own neighborhood associations that were, of course, segregated, and the rest of America was shut out,” Gay said.

“Because of that history, there are generations not only of Black Americans who can’t swim but of poor white Americans, too.”

Numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal that Black children are 1.5 times more likely to die from drowning in comparison to white children.

Deputy Mayor for Operations Jeffrey Roth touched on the safety element NYC’s expansion provides to young kids as the 2025 summer months approach.

Adams and his team members have made moves to guarantee the safety of all New York City children, their families, and visitors at city pools and beaches. “We’re starting kids early, in second grade, providing free swim safety classes so kids build skills that will follow them for the rest of their lives,” Roth said.