In message , Nick Maclaren
writes
In article ,
Paul Kelly wrote:

"David" wrote in message
. ..
In article , Peter Hughes
writes

More children drown in the bath than in garden ponds and most children
who drown in ponds are between 1 and 2 yrs old who shouldn't be out
unsupervised anyway, supervise then educate, don't childproof the world

I'll try to calm down before responding to such irresponsible drivel.

When you have calmed down, try and think rationally, and then you may
find that it is not drivel.

It is quite possible that having a pond in the garden reduces the
chane of a child drowning. The reason is that most deaths are in
moving water (rivers, the sea etc.) and letting a child learn about
water in a relatively safe environment will reduce the risk when it
comes across a dangerous one.

Indeed.

There is a DTI leaflet available online at:

http://www2.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/s...a/pondsafe.pdf

But ti doesn't really say anything very much, and I'm not sure about
some of the things it says.

I do seem to remember though that most drownings in ponds (and there
aren't many) happen in others peoples gardens, rather than the child's
own garden. (Reasons for this could of course vary, did they have ponds
in the garden, where they protected from falling in etc. ?)

We have a couple of small ponds and haven't done anything in particular
to them. But parents have different tolerances towards these sorts of
dangers for their children, I certainly wouldn't criticise someone if
they did want to cover or fence it off.

Sure small children shouldn't be left unsupervised in the garden, but it
may only take a few moments for a child to get them selves into a sticky
situation
--
Chris French and Helen Johnson, Leeds
urg Suppliers and References FAQ:
http://www.familyfrench.co.uk/garden/urgfaq/index.html