What is BH-JSL?
BHJSL is “Waterproofing our Community, Saving Lives”
The mission of the Benjamin Hair Just Swim for Life Foundation (BHJSL) is to raise awareness of the need for swimming education, and to provide the systems and tools to waterproof our community so that all children have the opportunity to learn basic swimming skills and water safety.
The founding of the Ben Hair Just Swim for Life (BHJSL) is predicated on the belief that every child should be taught to swim, and thus to be safe in water and to develop a life-long love of the water. As our foundation has grown, it embraced the principles of family, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Everyone, regardless of their ability to pay, is welcome to our program! Come swim with us!
As time transpired, the BHJSL Foundation began to teach teens and adults how to swim too. It is not just about learning basic stroke techniques, but also about being safe in the water. Students are taught freestyle, underwater swimming, treading water, and floating on their backs.
The daunting statistics:
The BHJSL Foundation recognizes that teaching children comfort and life-saving skills is paramount to keeping our community safe. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that drowning is a priority as it is “urgent, related, and preventable” (CDC, “About the Division of Injury Prevention”).
It is important that swimming be taught to all. According to the Centers for Disease Control, “there are over 4000 unintentional drowning deaths” a year in the United States (CDC, “Drowning Data”). More children ages 1-4 die from drowning than any other cause of death,” with drowning being “the second leading cause of unnintentional injury death for children ages 5-14” (CDC, “Drowning Data”).
The statistics are also skewed for people of varying populations:
A recent study has found that 40% of white children, nearly 70% of African American children, and 58% of Hispanic/Latino children can not swim and feel uncomfortable around water (CDC, “Health Disparities in Drowning”).
The CDC also reports some conditions such as epilepsy and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) increase the risk of drowning. In fact, according to the CDC, “deaths among people with ASD are nearly 40 times as likely to be caused by drowning as deaths in the general population” (CDC, “Health Disparities in Drowning”).
BHJSL also funds programs in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area that teach water safety instructors better ways to teach students how to be safe in various bodies of water.
Learn more:
CDC: “About the Division of Injury Prevention.” Injury Center, 27 August 2024, www.cdc.gov/injury/divisions-offices/about-division-of-injury-prevention.html
CDC: “Drowning Data.” Drowning Prevention, 3 May 2024, www.cdc.gov/drowning/data-research/index.html
CDC. “Health Disparities in Drowning.” Drowning Prevention, 12 november 2024, www.cdc.gov/drowning/health-equity/index.html
The BH-JSL Foundation is a 501(c)(3) Public Charity with headquarters in Charlottesville, VA.
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