With the end of summer vacation around the corner, it’s important to keep safety a top priority when enjoying the water.

In 2017,353 people between the ages of five and 24 drowned throughout the country, according to the National Safety Council. Boating Law Administrator and Education Coordinator for the Iowa DNR Susan Stocker says keeping an eye on children should always be priority number one when around water, “Taking your family, or a child, or young person to the beach is a great summer activity. But, that means that you get to keep your eye on that child 24-7. Taking a child to the beach is not the babysitter. Most of the public beaches throughout Iowa do not have lifeguards. So, you need to make sure you are the lifeguard. You talk about anybody who has lost a child, and it was just seconds. They were there, then all of a sudden they weren’t.”

In addition to constant supervision, life jackets are also critical in keeping kids safe. In Iowa, every child under the age of 13 must wear a life jacket while on any boat, canoe, kayak and paddleboard at all times. When a motor boat reaches any body of water, Iowa law states there must be a fit life jacket for everyone on board, including adults. A rule of thumb is once you have your life jacket on and zipped or buckled up, have somebody else pull up on the shoulders of the life jacket, and if the jacket comes over your nose, it’s not safe.