Every year, Florida loses several children to drowning when it could be prevented. With the amount of home pools, too many children accidentally wander into it and within a few minutes of them not being in sight, they lose their precious lives. According to floridahealth.gov, "Florida loses more children under age five to drowning than any other state. Annually in Florida, enough children to fill three to four preschool classrooms drown and do not live to see their fifth birthday.

In 2013, Florida had the highest unintentional drowning rate in the nation for the 1–4 year old age group with a drowning rate of 7.54 per 100,000 population."

This can stop. Along with free VPK, the state of Florida should offer free survival swimming lessons to all children 18 and under. The reasons many young children don't is because the prices are way out of budget for the average Floridan. With the possibility to have each child learn how to swim as babies, along with prevention education, we can stop these disasters from happening. Please sign this petition if you no longer want to hear about these events and if you want to give each Floridan child a greater chance to see their 5th birthday.

In addition, please join the Facebook group in the link below for updates, education, and resources to prevent drowning until we reach our goal!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/203254376723726/