A mom in the US has been forced to speak out in defense of a video she posted online showing her throwing her infant son into a swimming pool.
The now-viral video sees 27-year-old Krysta Meyer recording the moment an instructor throws her eight-month-old son into a pool during an infant survival class at Little Fins Swim School in Colorado Springs, news.com.au reports.
You can see the controversial video below:Meyer captioned the video: "Oliver amazes me every week. I can’t believe he is barely two months in and is catching on so fast. He is a little fish."
After the instructor throws baby Oliver into the pool, she slides in the water beside him, as she waits for the baby to resurface. She then starts snapping her fingers above his head as he floats on his back.
However, after being circulated online and receiving over 53.6 million views on TikTok, the mother has had to speak out after the video caused so much backlash, that Meyer has even received death threats.
Meyer later said on Facebook: "From companies asking to work with me rather it’s advertising their products or from licensing my video to death threats. I hate social media."
Speaking to Motherly, Meyer said: "I get it, it looks bad. It's not for everyone," but insists that she is proud of the video because when parents discuss children and water safety, it saves lives.
Meyer also said that she wishes to produce a YouTube video
Motherly also reached out to the owner of Little Fins Swim School, Lauri Armstrong, who explains that her lessons are different from Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) lessons - which never throw babies into water.
In her statement to Motherly, Armstrong said:
"Our instructors are highly trained and we provide constant ongoing professional development training and skills workshops to keep up on all the latest safety information and skills.
"In the video, Ms. Jill tossed the baby in the pool. We do this as part of our safety and survival level to pass, because when kids fall into water, it's not always graceful or pretty.
"It can be a disorienting experience."
Dr. Andrew J. Bernstein, a pediatrician and fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, previously told Fatherly that pediatricians usuallt do not recommend this particular method of swimming lesson, saying:
"Although it seems to work for some children, there is a significant risk water getting into the lungs if a baby doesn't hold his or her breath for long enough, or at the right time."
Bernstein added that this can lead to a lack of oxygen to the brain, pneumonia, or drowning.
Per the Independent, organizations like Swim England and the Royal Life Saving Society UK have warned parents against these particular classes.
And speaking to The Times, Françoise Freedman, a medical anthropologist at the University of Cambridge and an expert on baby swimming, said: "[Forcing] a baby or toddler to float relies on extreme traumatic methods and, sadly, no amount of praise will compensate for the memory of inflicted pain - it just gets pushed into the recesses of our brain, where it is recorded."
In addition, the American Association of Pediatrics state that children can safely take swim lessons as early as one year old - and a 2009 study found an 88% reduction in the risk of drowning among children between the ages of one and four who had received swimming instructions.
So, is this something you'd be comfortable with as a parent?
