You can greatly reduce the chances of you and your children becoming a drowning victim or being injured if you follow a few simple safety tips:

1. Make sure an adult is constantly watching young children swimming, playing, or bathing in water. Do not read, play cards, talk on the phone, mow the lawn, or do any other distracting activity while supervising children around water.

2. Never swim alone or in unsupervised places. Teach your children to always swim with a buddy.

3. Keep small children away from buckets containing liquid: 5-gallon industrial containers are a particular danger. Be sure to empty buckets of all liquid when household chores are done. An infant or toddler can drown in as little as one inch of water.

4. Never drink alcohol before or during swimming, boating, or water skiing. Never drink alcohol while supervising children around water. Teach teenagers about the danger of drinking alcohol and swimming, boating, or water skiing.

5. To prevent choking, never chew gum or eat while swimming, diving, or playing in water.

6. Learn to swim. Enroll yourself and your children aged 4 and older in swimming classes. Swimming classes are not recommended for children under age 4.

7. Learn CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation). This applies particularly to pool owners and water sports enthusiasts. Contact the American Red Cross for more information on CPR courses.

8. Do NOT use air-filled swimming aids (such as "water wings") in place of life jackets or life preservers with children. Using air-filled swimming aids can give parents and children a false sense of security, which may increase the risk of drowning. These air-filled aids are toys and are not designed to be personal flotation devices (life jackets). Air-filled plastic tubes can deflate because they become punctured or unplugged.

9. Check the water depth before entering. The American Red Cross recommends nine feet as a minimum depth for diving or jumping.

10. Know the local weather conditions and forecast before swimming or boating. Thunderstorms and strong winds are dangerous to swimmers and boaters.

11. Use U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation devices (life jackets) when boating, regardless of distance to be traveled, size of boat, or swimming ability of boaters.

Water sports -- like swimming, wading, boating, and water skiing -- are fun and exciting. But they can also be dangerous for people of all ages. In 1996, nearly 4,000 people drowned in the United States, including almost 1,000 children younger than 15 years of age. Among children aged 1-9, drowning is the second leading cause of death from injuries. Near-drownings can result in brain damage.

Childhood drownings and near-drownings often occur when a child is left alone, even for a few seconds. It is surprising to many parents that young children tend not to splash or make noise when they get into trouble in the water and thus usually drown silently. Most children who drown in pools were last seen inside the home, had been out of sight less than five minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time.