German lifeguards urge parents to take their eyes off their smartphones in wake of child drownings

Numbers of drownings in Germany were higher than the previous year
DLRG
Eleanor Rose15 August 2018

German lifeguards have urged parents to take their eyes off their smartphones in the wake of a surge in child drownings this year.

In the first seven months of 2018, 279 people drowned in German waters - 37 more than the previous year, according to the German Lifeguard Association (DLRG).

The drownings included more than 20 children under the age of 15 and have captured the attention of the German media.

DLRG spokesman Achim Wiese told the Guardian that there was a link to parents too busy on their phones to pay attention to their children.

"Too few parents and grandparents are heeding the advice: when your children and grandchildren are in the water, put your smartphone away," he said.

Peter Harzheim of the German federation of swimming pool supervisors told German media that in the past, parents and grandparents spent more time with their kids in the pool but were now behaving "neglectfully".

"Increasing numbers of parents are fixated by their smartphones and are not looking left or right, let alone paying attention to their children," he said.

Experts also said a lack of swimming lessons has played a part in a spike in drownings during the heatwave.

Swimming lessons are not mandatory from an early age and swimming pools are now opening for shorter hours due to cost-cutting.

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