Short Answer

No.

We often, especially pre-summer, get questions about "does HFSS ever throw kids in with their clothes on to see if they are safe?" We do not have any type of "safety" skill in our program.  

The More You Know

We (HFSS) want to make sure that our attitude is that it is possible for swim schools to run swim sessions with kids clothed and not traumatize the kids.

Again, we focus on the building blocks of learning and incorporate safety skills in our program through other drills and skills.

Below is statement from a Water Safety Education paper written by the Broward County Drowning Prevention Task Force (in Florida).

Karen King, a veteran in the learn to swim business in Broward County, phrases it similarly to the HFSS philosophy.  Another point in the paper is about building blocks - building skill upon skill over time - enjoy the process of learning.

Putting babies and small children in life and death scenarios is not an acceptable teaching practice in swimming or in a learning situation. We are talking about a practice of throwing children in the pool to simulate drowning and watching to see if the child can survive. It is like showing a child a busy street putting him IN the road and watching to see if he or she makes it to the curb. Parents have somehow been desensitized to the cruelty and absurdity of this. Apply this idea to learning about the kitchen stove or crossing the street and the logic of using life or death scenarios to prevent childhood drowning seems to disappear. (King)

A baby’s swim lessons should be all positive. There should be no rushing through the learning process because acquired swim skills will not be permanent unless learned over time. There is no reason to subject a child to a life threatening scenario during swim lessons which may in the long run do emotional or cognitive harm to the child. I believe the answer is simple, slow down, enjoy the process of learning to swim with your child and create memories of fun in the water, while teaching your child how to be safer in and around the water for life. (King)