A day at the beach should not end in a child’s death
To prevent tragedy, children should be supervised and not allowed to swim alone. Also, the perennial catch cry — swim between the flags — features prominently in Surf Life Saving Queensland’s message and we shouldn’t ignore it, writes The Editor.
Opinion
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BRILLIANT sunny weather, warm temperatures and an easy temptation to head off for some fun at one of the great beaches that crowd the lazy length of the Queensland coastline means frolicking in the surf will be one of the most popular post-Christmas pastimes this week.
Most often it will be a time of great enjoyment and shared pleasure when everyone will return home with plenty of sand and happy memories.
However, every now and then the joy of a run into the surf is cut short.
A wave that’s bigger than expected or a rip that seemingly comes from nowhere can knock someone over or drag them under.
If there’s no immediate help, things cannot just go bad they can end in tragedy. A life could be lost and a family plunged into grief and tears.
Some powerful data has led to a new look at how the messages of beach safety are constructed and communicated.
The number of rescues at Queensland beaches is increasing at an alarming rate, and those which end with a fatality are also reaching a shocking level.
There were 192 children aged 10 years or younger rescued in recent months — an increase of about 12 per cent on last year’s number.
What most worrying is that 12 people have died along our coastline since July — the highest number for this period since Surf Life Saving Queensland began compiling statistics.
One dangerous activity that can be addressed is to minimise the number of people, especially young Queenslanders, who go into the water alone or are not watched properly from the beach.
SLSQ is launching an in-your-face spot that hits emotions by showing a careless mother sending her daughter off to the surf, only to look up too late when she’s swept under by a rip and lost.
The fundamental messages are that children should be supervised and, if possible, not allowed to swim alone. Also, the perennial catch cry — swim between the flags — features prominently.
Watch your kids, look out for your friends and don’t sit down on the beach scrolling your digital device, looking at social media or email. Your Facebook feed will be there tomorrow but, if they’re not attended properly, your children may not be.
This year The Courier-Mail led a statewide campaign, using all of our sister mastheads, to get swimming back in the schooling curriculum and a first thought rather than an afterthought.
We won that battle and we want to now win this one.
Don’t go to the beach unless you plan to live up to your responsibilities.
A life can often be at stake. Never forget that.
A QUINTESSENTIAL AUSSIE SPORTING EVENT
IT HAS the makings of being a Boxing Day Test for the ages.
After a year that, largely speaking, Australian cricket fans would prefer to forget, there is now the chance to end 2018 on a positive note.
We hardly need reminding of the calamity Australian cricket found itself in after facing a series defeat in South Africa and the ball-tampering controversy that followed.
The team was relieved of its two best players, captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner, and opener Cameron Bancroft as part of a 12-month ban for the brain explosion that was “Sandpaper-gate”.
It was one of the most shocking episodes in the nation’s cricketing history and the damage and angst is still being felt.
Victory was something the team did not enjoy for another nine months as it rocked from loss to draw to loss again as the players, under stand-in captain Tim Paine, attempted to right the ship.
But today, Australia faces India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground locked 1-1 in the four-Test series and every chance of securing another win following their victory in Perth this month.
Paine has worked his way into the hearts of Australian fans, playing hard and true and showing a determination that’s easily recognised and cheered on.
Paine led Australia out in Perth for the second Test against India one down after losing in Adelaide, in what was just his 17th match at international level, and he had finally grown into the role — taking a risk by batting first after winning the toss, literally shirt-fronting the ego-burdened visiting captain (and one of the greatest batsmen of all time) Virat Kohli, and giving not a centimetre and aggressively taking the game to the Indian tail.
It was a winning combination and Australia left the Jolimont Oval having regained their confidence, mojo and ability to get on top of an opposing team.
Now we have these sides facing off in what’s traditionally been one of the greatest cricketing contests in the world.
The reigning “greatest team in the world” is one match down to the team which had that greatest title not so long ago. Also, we have two captains — one seasoned and one just getting his spice mix right — who could not have played better in Perth.
There is more physics than chemistry between them, with a possible clash of atomic particles always on the cards.
There will be more than 90,000 excited fans at the MCG, most of them cheering on the local team, although the Indian diaspora will be on hand, as will the growing number of tourists who fly in from the subcontinent to have a summer of sport, sun and fun in the Great Southern Land.
In lounge rooms and sports venues around the countries, millions will join in. Today’s Test is a quintessential Australian summer event.
Responsibility for election comment is taken by Sam Weir, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details are available at www.couriermail.com.au/help/contact-us
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