Every available wall ay my local swimming pool has a glossy poster on it bearing the rather reasonable instruction that, "Children must be supervised at all times": in light of which it strikes me as totally unreasonable that there is now an entry charge for parents who are there not to swim, but to watch.
It's obviously struck a lot of other people as unreasonable too. The pool program & price list both feature a prominent full page explanation to the question, "why a no swim entry". The unfortunate staff must have got sick of explaining it, so now management is trying to beat us to the post before we even have the temerity to question why.
According to the brochure, parents are expected to cough up $3.80 for the privilege of sitting on a soggy bit of concrete developing piles whilst keeping an eye on their child in the pool due to, "the cost of maintaining, cleaning & heating these facilities".
Well, I never meant to argue it should be free. I do understand the need to cover operating costs (even turn a profit), and I admit it seems a bit petty to be whingeing about $3.80. But it is a council facility, and it has an obligation to provide a service to the community, and to deliver this service at an affordable price.
Parents are already paying a fee for their child's pool entry. They're probably there for swimming lessons, another expense. Once inside, there are lots of other ways to "value add" to the experience, they can rent a locker, pay for the kids to have a hot shower, succumb to nagging for tickets on the slide, snacks and a drink, or even grab themselves a coffee. This all adds up pretty fast. Imagine taking 2 or 3 kids to the pool a couple of times a week.
Those who do not wish to pay for a no swim entry are permitted to wait in the reception area. Very well then, you can save money and sit somewhere dry and quiet, sounds like a win-win; except how on earth can you be expected to supervise your child at all times from outside the complex?
Life guards and pool staff are on patrol inside the centre, and children taking lessons are the responsibility of their instructor, so there's probably nothing to worry about. Only, unfortunately, there is. After illness and transport accidents, the most likely cause of death for Australian children aged between 1-14yrs is accidental drowning (www.abs.gov.au [1]).
No pool employee can be fairly expected to give each child the same level of attention a guardian provides. Staff members have to keep watch on the whole class, or the whole lane or the whole pool. Even parents watching a big family or supervising someone else's kids on their behalf have better odds of not missing anything. It's a numbers game, and at the very least 2 pairs of eyes are better than one.
Completely aside from the issue of water safety is the wider issue of child safety. Parents shouldn't have to pay for the right to monitor who their children are talking to in public.
Not to mention that fact that some parents - bless them - like to make sure their kids aren't running screaming on the tiles, doing bombs or giving strangers wedgies.
I'm surprised everything possible isn't being done to keep parents poolside.
No swim entry fees are now standard at all public pools in my local area. It is a growing nationwide trend. I don't blame pool operators for levying this charge, but I do blame the councils who gave them the tender for letting them get away with it.
This policy capitalises on the correct assumption that, as much as they might resent it, most parents will pay the fee anyway. Being suckers, they want to make sure their kids are safe and they're prepared to pay a premium for it. But what of those who don't merely resent the charge, but genuinely can't afford it?
I'll concede that at least these charges are nominal, and it mightn't sound like much; but that all depends on your perspective. In my world $3.80 represents a schooner, but for many of the people being asked to pay $3.80 represents 2 litres of milk. Lots of families have to make careful choices about every dollar they spend.
I wonder why nobody seems to be making a racquet about the introduction of no swim entry fees. It is so clearly a disincentive to responsible community behaviour. I can only guess that people are too embarrassed to make a fuss; or feel that it's just not worth it over such a little thing.
Imagine the public outcry that would issue should a tragedy occur in the pool whilst Mum or Dad waited in the reception area.
At the moment there's still something ridiculous about making a fuss over $3.80, which is why now's a good time to do so.