How water safe is your family?
Ten quick questions about how drowning really happens and what stops it. Most of them are things our family had to learn after the fact. Every answer comes with its source, and finishing prints a certificate.
10 questions
Drowning is the #1 cause of death for children ages 1 to 4. It’s also preventable.
Source: CDC (opens in a new tab)
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Drowning. Drowning is the #1 cause of death for children ages 1 to 4. It’s also preventable.
Source: CDC
Drowning happens in seconds and is often silent. There’s usually no splashing or calling for help, so you have to be watching to see it.
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Quiet, often with no splashing at all. Drowning happens in seconds and is often silent. There’s usually no splashing or calling for help, so you have to be watching to see it.
Source: American Academy of Pediatrics
Young children can drown in just an inch or two of water. Empty buckets, coolers and kiddie pools right after use, and stay within arm’s reach at bath time.
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An inch or two. Young children can drown in just an inch or two of water. Empty buckets, coolers and kiddie pools right after use, and stay within arm’s reach at bath time.
Source: American Academy of Pediatrics
More than 7 in 10 children who died in a pool or spa (2021–2023) drowned at a home. Grandparents’, neighbors’ and friends’ pools count too.
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At a home: their own, a grandparent’s, a friend’s or a neighbor’s. More than 7 in 10 children who died in a pool or spa (2021–2023) drowned at a home. Grandparents’, neighbors’ and friends’ pools count too.
Source: CPSC, 2026 report
Toddlers and weak swimmers need “touch supervision”: an adult within arm’s reach whenever they’re in or near water. Name one Water Watcher so everyone knows who’s on duty.
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Within arm’s reach. Toddlers and weak swimmers need “touch supervision”: an adult within arm’s reach whenever they’re in or near water. Name one Water Watcher so everyone knows who’s on duty.
Source: American Academy of Pediatrics
A fence that isolates the pool on all four sides lowers the odds of drowning by 83% compared with three-sided fencing. When the house is one side, a toddler can walk straight out the back door to the water.
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A fence on all four sides that separates the pool from the house. A fence that isolates the pool on all four sides lowers the odds of drowning by 83% compared with three-sided fencing. When the house is one side, a toddler can walk straight out the back door to the water.
Source: Cochrane review
Water wings and other floaties don’t prevent drowning and can slip off. A Coast Guard-approved life jacket protects better, and it still never replaces an adult watching.
Source: CDC (opens in a new tab)
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No. Use a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket instead. Water wings and other floaties don’t prevent drowning and can slip off. A Coast Guard-approved life jacket protects better, and it still never replaces an adult watching.
Source: CDC
Check the water first, because seconds matter. In a CPSC study of young children who drowned in pools, 77% had been missing for 5 minutes or less.
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The water: the pool, spa, bathtub or pond. Check the water first, because seconds matter. In a CPSC study of young children who drowned in pools, 77% had been missing for 5 minutes or less.
Source: CPSC Publication 359
For every child lost to drowning, 7 more survive one and need emergency care. Some, like Adam, come home with injuries that change everything.
Source: CDC, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
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7. For every child lost to drowning, 7 more survive one and need emergency care. Some, like Adam, come home with injuries that change everything.
Source: CDC, 2026
After a drowning, fast CPR with rescue breaths matters. Call 911, and take an infant and child CPR class so you’re ready.
Source: American Heart Association & AAP, 2024 (opens in a new tab)
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CPR with rescue breaths. After a drowning, fast CPR with rescue breaths matters. Call 911, and take an infant and child CPR class so you’re ready.
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Certificate
Water Safety Champion
Your name
took the Because of ADAM water safety quiz and knows that drowning is fast and silent, that toddlers need an adult within arm’s reach, that pools need a fence on all four sides, and that when a child is missing, you check the water first.
becauseofadam.org
Now make it a habit.
Knowing is the first layer. Name a Water Watcher every time, and share the layers with the people who watch your kids.