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Cost douses water fun

Swimming, like education, should be the right of every child regardless of cost (“A life lesson well spent on the young,” July 14). Forty-eight dollars per child for swim lessons can buy a tank and half of gas, pay a portion of the utility bill to keep water, lights, heat on or co-pay for child care. There is meager little left over for the luxury of swim lessons.

The Spokane Parks and Rec, already stretched, could let agencies know about information that can help qualifying families scrape together nickels and dimes for a day at the pool. With luck, the children can emulate the other swimmers and pick up some survival skills.

Perfecting kicks and strokes to pass the swimming test isn’t as important as learning how to respect the water and just have fun. Thank you for identifying socioeconomic factors experienced in Spokane that can affect the equity of water safety.

Joan Baune

Rockford

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