₦airaland Forum

Dear Nairalanders,

Please I need your advice on an incident that occurred yesterday. While I was at work, my wife called to inform me that our son, who had gone on an excursion with his school, came home complaining of chest pain and difficulty breathing. Upon asking further questions, my wife learned that during the excursion, the school allowed the children to swim in a pool, and our son almost drowned. He was rescued, but he had ingested some pool water in the process.

We immediately rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he was examined. Thankfully, there were no major issues, and the doctor prescribed antibiotics since he had ingested pool water while struggling. Later that evening, I sent a complaint about the incident in the school’s WhatsApp group. Several other parents shared similar experiences, with three parents mentioning that their children had also faced near-drowning situations during the excursion.

Now, I have concerns about whether it is appropriate for the school to take children swimming without getting parental consent first. My son is just 6 years old. After I raised my concerns, someone from the school called and apologized, but shortly afterward, the vice principal called me and accused my son of lying. According to her, he only spent a minute in the pool, and she suggested that everything he told me was false. The conversation escalated into an argument, and I ended up having to hang up. Her words also seemed to imply that I was lying as well.

The school management then restricted further communication in the WhatsApp group, and they have not responded to my complaint or offered any apology since then. I am considering taking this matter further and would like to know if I should report it to the Ministry of Education or any relevant authority.

Please advise me on the best course of action.

Thank you for your help!

Be careful concerning the health of the child. Ingesting water into the lungs is a very serious issue. It can lead to complications that point towards eventual death if they get worse (and they can/do get worse) . Water is never supposed to get into our lungs.

I don't know what you want from the school again, they have apologized and maybe the next step is to ensure all students get proper swimming lessons before visiting a pool or they stop taking the kids to pool sites entirely.

Do you want monetary compensation? Why the fight? If it's because of the headmistress making you angry over the phone then try to forgive, I'm sure she was not there when the incident happened.

SeeWahala:
Be careful concerning the health of the child. Ingesting water into the lungs is a very serious issue. It can lead to complications that point towards eventual death if they get worse (and they can/do get worse) . Water is never supposed to get into our lungs.

I don't know what you want from the school again, they have apologized and maybe the next step is to ensure all students get proper swimming lessons before visiting a pool or they stop taking the kids to pool sites entirely.

Do you want monetary compensation? Why the fight? If it's because of the headmistress making you angry over the phone then try to forgive, I'm sure she was not there when the incident happened.

Thank you

saved25:
Thank you

If this incident happened less than 48hrs ago please make sure there's no single trace of water in the kids lungs anymore even if it means visiting the hospital once again.

If there's even a teaspoon full of water left in the kids lungs he can develop extreme health complications within the week.

Forgive the school and whomever was in charge of the swimming kids at the time the accident occured and thank goodness for life.