Implications

Several important implications can be drawn from this research that may affect the future work of drowning prevention theoreticians, researchers and practitioners. For those engaged in theoretical study of, and research into, youth drowning prevention, the study has provided an alternative view of the youth drowning phenomenon. It has done this by developing and applying a conceptual framework for comprehensively analysing drowning risk not only in terms of exposure to risk but also in terms of the critical contribution of water safety knowledge, attitudes and behaviours to the construction of drowning risk. By demonstrating the pivotal, but variable, influences of the many inter- related water safety constructs identified in the framework, and by highlighting the limitations of risk exposure alone in explaining drowning risk, this study has challenged conventional perceptions of drowning risk. The net implication of this is that future studies that fail to recognize the critical role that an individual’s understanding of water safety makes to the shaping of drowning risk during aquatic recreation are unlikely to shed further light on drowning incidence or its probability. Researchers will need, therefore, to always consider the relative contribution of water safety knowledge, attitudes and behaviours to drowning risk especially when studying the aquatic recreation of other youth populations or that of other sectors of society.

The implications of this study for the work of practitioners engaged in drowning prevention through water safety promotion, water safety education or rescue services, also are far reaching. The findings of this study have provided the water safety sector with a comprehensive picture of youth drowning risk by identifying: the nature of youth aquatic recreation, shortcomings in water safety knowledge, the prevalence of unsafe attitudes and risk perceptions, and the practice of at-risk behaviours during aquatic activities. The implications of these findings for water safety education are six-fold.

Firstly, the study has identified clearly the nature of youth aquatic recreational practice, and especially what activities are popular within the youth population. Swimming, surfing, paddling, boating and fishing activities were popular activities among youth and programmes that specifically target these activities may provide youth with a better understanding of water safety practices. In addition, youth water safety education may

need to focus on the realistic demands of open water environments because most youth activities take place in open water locations such as surf beaches. Consequently, opportunity to learn about water safety in an open water environment may prove to be more valuable than pool-based activity. Surf beaches in particular have been shown to be popular sites of youth aquatic activity and learning about them on location may make young people’s water safety education more relevant. Furthermore, because much of youth aquatic activity is done without adult supervision, water safety education might also need to concentrate on empowering youth to make effective decisions about their own safety. Therefore, programmes that promote risk identification and risk-reduction management skills (both of which have been identified as lacking among many youth) may be effective in teaching youth how to look after themselves in the aquatic

environment.

Secondly, a shift to accommodate the nature of youth aquatic activity, as suggested above, might not be effective unless it also addresses the many weaknesses identified in the practical water safety skills base among youth. The widespread lack of swimming ability found among certain sectors of the youth in this study suggests that current efforts to provide New Zealanders with rudimentary skills to survive sudden immersion in deep water are inadequate. This is apparent particularly among Pasifika and Asian students, and those attending low-decile schools. Special assistance to low-decile schools via the provision of subsidies for swimming and water safety lessons would address issues of inequitable educational opportunity identified in this study. Such programmes might be made available either via commercial swim schools or public schools. In addition, mandatory instruction of CPR, available to all students before the end of compulsory schooling (16 years of age), may be a productive way of addressing the generally poor skill levels reported among students, especially since students are likely to continue to engage in unsupervised aquatic activity. Furthermore, to ensure that such a critical lifesaving skill is taught properly, CPR training may be taught best by qualified personnel and fully funded to ensure equity of access. This is a condition clearly not evident at present given that more students from low-decile schools have no knowledge of CPR compared with students from mid- or high-decile schools.

Thirdly, external providers might be the best providers of specialist water safety knowledge. This provision may help address the very apparent lack of surf and boat

safety knowledge identified in this study. The provision of such education, however, cannot be done on a user-pays basis, as is current practice because it disadvantages students attending the under-resourced, low-decile schools. These students have been found to have a lesser understanding of water safety than other students and far fewer reported having had any surf and boat safety education during their schooling. Funding subsidies to assist external providers is one way that such disparities may be addressed.

Fourthly, given that Asian students, who make up the bulk of new settlers in New Zealand, have limited water skills and understanding of water safety, specific education programmes in schools and the community offer great potential for a reduction in drowning risk among this group. A range of educational strategies could be implemented to address the shortcomings in water safety skills and knowledge identified in this study. These might include: school-based induction programmes for new arrivals with an emphasis on water safety and aquatic recreation in New Zealand; water safety information in a range of languages disseminated through migrant

community groups and schools; and subsidised commercial swimming and water safety lessons targeted at new arrivals and available through external providers.

Fifthly, any future water safety education should recognise that youth have been shown to construct their understanding of water safety and drowning risk in many different ways. Clearly some youth (but especially male) have been shown to rely heavily on their peers for knowledge of water safety. It is thus incumbent on institutions such as schools to ensure that students are well informed and capable of modeling safe peer practice. Peer-oriented water safety education that capitalizes on the value which youth place on their peers as sources of understanding, may offer an effective alternative to conventional didactic forms of teaching currently employed in many aquatics education programmes.

Sixthly, that alcohol consumption in aquatic activity was already embedded as acceptable practice at a relatively early age, especially among young males, warrants special attention. The widespread acceptance of alcohol consumption during aquatic activity, and the association of alcohol consumption with other unsafe attitudes and behaviours found in this study, suggest that early intervention is not only desirable but also essential. Preventing teenagers engaging in alcohol-related aquatic activity through

community awareness campaigns targeted at youth in general, but at young

European/Pakeha and Maori males in particular, may prevent future drowning fatalities among the adult male population.