Beware of teenagers "dipping"
Categories: Teens & tweens, Weird but true, Toys & games
There's nothing like a late night dip in a swimming pool on a warm summer's eve. I can't even begin to count the number of times I've enjoyed such pleasures -- on camping trips, at hotels, even this week when we're on holiday with my wife's extended family at a spa in Calistoga, California. We've been there in the pools until they kicked us out at closing time.It seems that I am not alone in my enjoyment of a bit of night swimming -- teens in England have begun indulging as well. The problem is, they're using pools they shouldn't be. The teens use Google Earth to search for homes with large swimming pools, then use social networking sites like Facebook to organize impromptu -- and illegal -- pool parties.
Homeowners have woken up to find their pools full of teenagers who are prepared for a quick getaway on bicycle. Police are "are advising owners of swimming pools to be on their guard and extra vigilant." The sad thing is, at least here in the states, homeowners could be held responsible if someone gets hurt in their pool, even if they were using it without permission.
If I owned a swimming pool, my inclination would be to tell the neighbor kids to use it whenever they liked, but these days, unfortunately, that would be a very unwise thing to do -- I think I would probably have to have a huge fence around it and keep it locked up tight. And where's the fun in that?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
eugene 6-20-2008 @ 4:20PM
I grew up in a neighborhood where we were always welcome to drop by for a dip. My friend's neighbor actually put a gate in their common property fence just so she and her family could go swimming whenever they wanted.
But looking at today's society... I would NEVER do this. The thought of an accident happening resulting in the injury or death of neighborhood child scares me to death and the potential lawsuit that could result would ruin my family as well.
Unfortunately, I feel that the days where people accepted personal resonsibility are long gone. Now, people want... need someone to blame in the face of tragedy and opening up my property to unsupervised activity is just asking for trouble.
Reply
Debbie Morgan 6-22-2008 @ 6:02PM
I agree Eugene! Since safety and security are my business this story grabs my attention. Years ago we could share our pools with little thought of law suits and young people used to be much more respectful of other people’s property so you didn’t mind sharing, but not so today. This late night “dipping” trend is not just disrespectful but it’s deliberate abuse of someone else’s property. The hard truth is, if one of these young people got hurt or worse, the property owners would likely find themselves in the middle of a very costly law suit. A pool alarm would help curb these “dipping” episodes since it alerts the homeowner if the water is disturbed while the pool is unattended. I’m sure they can be purchased lots of places but my site has them on sale with free shipping. These alarms save lives and give the pool owner peace of mind.