If You See an Idaho Child Wearing This Swimsuit, Pull Them Out ASAP!

Accidents happen.

Chances are, every parent has experienced an accident or emergency with their kids. It happens to the best of us, right?

No matter how caring, vigilant, or involved we are, no parent is perfect. Sometimes, it's the seemingly harmless mistakes or things we absentmindedly overlook can put our kids in danger. Seasoned parents know it's not a matter of "if" things will go wrong, it's simply a matter of "when."

Remember the days before furniture hooks existed?

We sure do. Our '80s and '90s childhoods were peppered with horror stories about small children being crushed by the dressers, giant stand-alone TVs with faux wood finishes and beveled screens, bookcases, and armoires they tried climbing while Mom and Dad weren't looking.

Today, securing our heavy furniture seems like a no-brainer, but it took hundreds, if not thousands, of lessons learned in pain and sometimes death for us to come up with a solution. And these kinds of accidents are still happening. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, around 11,100 children in 2020 were treated for furniture tip-over injuries in emergency rooms nationwide.

Kids are forgotten in hot cars every summer.

Most of us judge and curse the parents who claim they were stressed, distracted, exhausted, or just unaccustomed to having their kid with them during the time of day they forgot their child in the car.

Heartbreaking data from Consumer Reports shows nearly 40 American kids die of heatstroke inside hot cars each summer. No one becomes a parent thinking they'll be the one to forget their kid in the backseat. Still, it happens.

No parent is perfect.

Ask anyone who's raised a family and they'll tell you mistakes are part of the deal. Instead of judging another parent or family on how they slipped up, we should be addressing these common, often invisible risks and hazards together.

We're not saying the village is responsible for raising a child, but we have a feeling things would be a lot better if all of us worked together to create safer environments for the village's youngest and most vulnerable residents.

Whatever you do, don't put your kid in a white, blue, or tan swimsuit.

Idaho summer 2024 just kicked off, and its lakes, beaches, and pools are already crowded by noon.

If you see a young or small child wearing a blue, white, tan, or even flesh-toned swimsuit, trunks, or rash guard, please inform the lifeguard on duty immediately or find the child's parent. They more than likely missed the memo that swim apparel in certain colors can make their child practically invisible in the water, dramatically increasing their chance of drowning.

The galleries below feature swim apparel designed to help parents and lifeguards keep an eye on children and young swimmers in the water.

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