Well, considering the alternatives...

I don't mean to be callous here. Really, I don't. But I'm tired of hearing statistics like this one, which I quote from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

"...drowning remains the second most common cause of accident-related deaths for children between the ages of 1 and 14."

Okay. Here's the thing. If you were a child between the ages of 1 and 14, what's the most likely way that you might die? If you live in a house with a pool, there aren't many other more likely alternatives, now are there?

I realize that the emphasis is on pool safety but ideally, parents should take precautions to protect their children from all accidents. If, hope of all hopes, child mortality was reduced to the very minutest number, don't you think that the statistical percentage for the few remaining accidental deaths would be the same?

I'm not being a stickler. I'm just afraid that meaningless statistics like this will reduce credibility and make people apathetic to the real issue. If you're saying to yourself "aw, no one pays much attention to that stuff," then it just proves my point.