Race, Fear and the Risk of Drowning

Published on City Limits by Jarrett Murphy on Jul 8, 2014

As the weather heats up so does the concern for water safety around pools and waterfronts. On Monday, Brooklyn’s borough president reminded parents to supervise their children closely after Ruhshona Kurbonova, a two-year-old, drowned in Prospect Park Lake this past weekend.
“A city that is surrounded by a body of water shouldn’t lose human bodies to swimming incidents or water-related incidents,” said Eric Adams.
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Health and Environment
To prevent further drowning occurrences, Adams plans to sit down with all stakeholders to get across the importance of water safety for all citizens and also he expressed the need to get the word out to parents on educating their children on what not to do when near water. Adams’s goal is to prevent “family gatherings turning into family tragedy.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the past year, 3,533 non-boating related drownings occurred in the United States; that’s 10 people per day. While the circumstances of each water accident are different, a lack of swimming ability and water-safety knowledge is a common factor.