Does any parent in this part of the world know that swimming is a life skill? How many of them are aware that children need to hone some skills like running, climbing trees, diving and rope climbing etc to survive in life

IT’S REALLY devastating to read stories every other morning about youth, especially the ones from better off families, drowning in rivers, beaches and reservoirs in Kerala. The latest one being the case reported from River Manimala, in central Kerala, in which three engineering graduates got drowned when they went swimming,

 
The victims were Joseph Kurian (19) hailing from Ernakulam, Lukes Joy (20) from Kottayam and Sunil K. Mathew (20) from Pathanamthitta, all three belonging to Amal Jyothi Engineering College Kanjirapalli. Three families lost their hope and they remain shattered to live their life better dead than living.
 

In another instance, three youths were drowned in the River Chalakkudi the same day. They are Krishnan Ignacious, (19), Biju (18) and Jibin Joy (18). These victims were part of a 13-member pilgrim party, which was returning from Malayatoor pilgrim center. What were the gods doing when these devotees went drowning? 
 
Would these instances help open the eyes of our nuclear parents who go mad about making their kids this MBAs and that BEs, and simply go ignorant about the fact that there are some other skills all should know to survive in this world? Our children learn things threadbare as how to make money out of moth.
 
Unfortunately, most of them do not know that it is unwise to take a breath when one is underwater or drowning. They have no idea how to escape from the bite of chasing dog. They have the least idea about managing their personal well-being all by themselves. They are spoon-fed and made to feel that the world is as easy as it is in their hostels or boarding homes or their own homes. Poor beings!
 
How does it happen? Whenever there is a few days’ vacation, our parents go ransacking the media to find a vacation class for their kids so that the latter would sharpen their core skills much better than the ones living in the neighbourhood. These parents stuff the brains of these kids with information, which is hardly useful when it comes to life and death. These kids grow up to be drowned in the waters of lore.
 
Does any parent in this part of the world know that swimming is a life skill? How many of them are aware that children need to hone some skills like running, climbing trees, diving and rope climbing, etc, which are much more important than two-wheeler riding and driving and business managing and software engineering? The latter demands life and health, and the former ones ensure them both.
 
Therefore, parents please note, whenever there is a few days’ vacation let your kids go for some skill development programmes like rescue operation, fire and water escape skills, swimming, diving, mountaineering and trekking and so on. So that your children would never bring you news that they were drowned or they got killed, wounded and went missing.
 
And finally there needs to be provision in their curriculum to make them understand that using mobiles while driving is a kind of committing suicide. Riding a two-wheeler without license and helmet is dangerous, and mixing drink with driving is disastrous, and taking bath in huge rivers and turbulent seas is as stupid an idea as putting one’s head into the jaws of death. 
 
If the above things are not taken care of very seriously, we are bound to have stories, and heart rending stories of parents who lose all their hopes in the waters of rivers, seas and reservoirs. Are the modern parents listening?