A noise complaint from Figtree residents about a swimming school operating from a home in their street has sparked a fiery public debate over the school’s controversial teaching method.
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While neighbours of the Figtree Aquatic Survival School have focused their complaints on the personal impact of hearing children “screaming, crying and gagging” during the swimming lessons, many readers took to social media to express either shock or support for the teaching method itself.
Among hundreds of comments, most views were split between advocates – many who posted their support multiple times – and others who said they thought “anything that makes a child scream or cry is traumatising and disturbing”.
“This made me sick to read,” Lore Drea wrote. “I couldn’t do that to my child.”
“Not traumatising? I don’t believe that,” Elise Sorge said. “Sounds like a great way to give them severe anxiety.”
Likewise, Aimee Raikes said. “That’s terrible. Who would actually do this to their children.”
This question was answered by parents sharing their experiences.
“I love these swimming lessons!” Teira Chilby exclaimed. “Yes my baby cried but he is happy as Larry in the water swimming at 13 [months] old. I'd rather listen to kids cry learning a survival skill [than] have the silence of them drowning because you were [too] late to teach them to survive!!! “
“[It’s] not child abuse, [it’s] been around a long time, and has given our children an immense level of water confidence and respect of its dangers,” Jeremy Martens wrote.
Some swim school supporters were unsympathetic to the noise complaints.
“This is ridiculous!!! Kids scream all the time at swimming lessons. The lady is doing a good thing and boo hoo to the neighbours whinging about a bit of noise,” Sian Jennett said.
Apart from polarised views about the “survival” classes, a number of readers – like Jelaine Darcy – took a more neutral stance, focusing on the core issue of the noise complaint.
“If a child learns to swim - fantastic!” Ms Darcy said.
“But this guy and his family live with ‘noise’ day-in/day-out and that’s gotta push anyone’s buttons! If you've taken your child through this swim school and got great results in a few weeks - you probably have heard some noise in that time.
“The neighbours have that noise all the time though.”
Similarly, Kell Smith said “It's not all about the parents or kids that go to that swim school, it's about the poor neighbours and their kids having to listen to kids cry and whinge every day. How do you think those kids feel listening to that?? I'd say it upsets them, which shouldn't be allowed to happen!”