Obviously, most of you don't have and have never had young children. don't speak about something you obviously know nothing about! Yes, it's very good to educate your children as a safety measure and you can't baby-proof the world. Here's the thing - we aren't trying to baby-proof the world, just their own home. it's impossible to watch your child 24/7 - if you've had a toddler, you know that. when you sleep at night, sometimes they aren't sleeping, even though you may think they are. when you use the restroom... they can find trouble in just that small 2-5min span. So, instead of trying to educate this poor man on how to raise his child or give him statistics that are completely unnecessary, let's give him practical ideas on how to do a good job of parenting and keeping his child safe!

I myself, am looking for the same type of information for a friend who just bought a house with a backyard pond with a rock fountain - it's tough. A fence can be pretty, plant vines or other pretty plants around it. There are "mesh"-like fences. Arizona, where i live, is huge on pool safety as we have 10-30 toddler drowings per year (all year long - mostly ages 18mos-3yrs - that busy age that is curious and doesn't always follow the 'rules' - and pools aren't 'running water' but kids drown in it anyway - imagine that!)
anyway, as i was getting to, there are pool fence manufacturers that have removable view fences - that are like mesh pannels that can be removed when the child is older. It's not very ugly as it is pretty much see-thru. it's pretty pricy, though.

good luck to you finding a solution that works for you!