If you are someone who is always left dry during pool side parties or someone who has never taken a cruise for the sheer fear of drowning, then in all probability, you do not know how to swim. And most likely it is the sheer dedication of those arm floaties that you used as a kid that are responsible for the situation you find yourself in. Most parents choose to introduce their kids to the high waters of a shallow kiddie pool in the complete safety of kid floatation devices. Little do they know that they are making sure that their child never learns to swim!

Despite the ease that kid floatation devices offer parents who can lower attention levels while in the pool (unless the idea is to not teach the child swimming) they should be avoided like plague. Below are listed a few reasons why kid flotation devices do not work and can actually be hazardous to the child.

- Hinders natural movement - Like animals, humans too have a natural instinct to swim. Kids waddle in water naturally in an attempt to stay afloat much like tadpoles. Kid floatation devices offer assistance which prevents them from making this effort. Since mother frogs do not bother going to Speedo, neither should you! The false security offered by kid flotation devices tricks the child into believing that they can pop up and stay afloat without any effort on their part. Also with the natural swimming instinct hampered, children never learn how to swim and a lifetime of dependency on flotation devices follows.

- Breathing control - Arm floaties and other such kid floatation devices prevent children from learning how to control their breathing when their face goes underwater. Since the kids stay afloat, they remain uncomfortable with the thought of plunging their face into the water. This is also the reason why the very few kids who do learn to swim with kid floatation devices do an awkward doggy style swim stroke

Against swimming posture - Kid floatation devices are designed to keep the head area of the child afloat. This automatically keeps the body of the kid in a vertical position. Even a novice can tell that to learn how to swim it is most important to keep the body in the horizontal position. Despite this obvious flaw, several parents are happy to see their kids blobbing in the water like sticks. - Deflation - Arm floaties, tubes, jackets and several other such kid floatation devices are filled with air to make them effective. In the unfortunate event of the device deflating, serious accidents can occur.- Loss of confidence - Not only do kids lose confidence in their ability to swim, they are also teased by their peers for their dependency on the floaters. So unless the idea is to serve a dual purpose of having the child teased as well as remain a non swimmer, kid floatation devices are no good.

Take matters into your own hands and poke rather large holes into those kid flotation devices that you bought, since it definitely did the same to your pocket and shall serve absolutely no purpose.