“Shallow Water is Dangerous Too” by jefftk

Content warning: risk to children

Julia and I know
drowning is the biggest
risk to US children under 5, and we try to take this seriously.
But yesterday our 4yo came very close to drowning in a
fountain. (She's fine now.)

This week we were on vacation with my extended family: nine kids,
eight parents, and ten grandparents/uncles/aunts. For the last few
years we've been in a series of rental houses, and this time on
arrival we found a fountain in the backyard:

I immediately checked the depth with a stick and found that it would
be just below the elbows on our 4yo. I think it was likely 24" deep;
any deeper and PA would
require a fence. I talked with Julia and other parents, and
reasoned that since it was within standing depth it was safe.

[...]

---

First published:

July 20th, 2025

Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Zf2Kib3GrEAEiwdrE/shallow-water-is-dangerous-too

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

---

Images from the article:

---

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.