Behind the Badge - Listen to the Kids
Listen to the Kids
District Game Warden Zane Manhart
One of the many duties of a district game warden in North Dakota is giving public presentations.
On several occasions the Dickinson Parks and Recreation Department has asked me to give presentations at a program that they have each summer called Safety City.
I was asked to speak about boat and water safety to 122 pre-school and kindergarten aged children.
The children were divided into three groups that I taught at separate times throughout the day.
We talked about the safest places to ride in a boat, about what to do if you fall into the water, and of course we talked about wearing personal flotation devices.
A couple of things that I stressed the most while discussing personal flotation devices with children are making sure that your life jacket is US Coast Guard approved and ensuring that it is appropriately sized.
These children really thought it was funny when I put an oversized personal flotation device on one of them and pulled up on the shoulder straps and the child pops right out.
I do this to demonstrate how easily they might fall out of the oversized life jacket if they were in the water.
These children are quite funny to listen to.
I ask them if they have questions and it never fails as the questions end up being stories.
Unfortunately, many of these stories are tattling on their parents, mostly dads.
I often chuckle about the things these children tell me about their boating experiences and wish I could have been there to see a few of them, as they most definitely would be more even more comical in person.
One thing that rings true while teaching these kids is that they all know that they are supposed to wear a personal flotation device.
They accept it without hesitation.
It just makes sense, if you’re going to be in a boat a life jacket is necessary.
When I patrol the waters of southwestern North Dakota I wish that more adults had this attitude.
Every summer one of the most common citations that I issue is for not having an adequate number of personal flotation devices.
It is not required that people over 11 years old wear a personal flotation device while on a boat, with some exceptions, but it is required that there is one for everyone in the boat and that they fit properly.
It isn’t uncommon at all to see people dig through all of the compartments in their vessels to try to find the life jackets.
Often, if they can find the required number, they won’t properly fit the people on board.
I always wonder if there was an accident, and the boat overturned or started to sink how they would ever get to the life jackets. It would be even more difficult if the life jackets were still in the shipping material that they came in.
It could be an avoidable catastrophe if more people started wearing their personal flotation devices on a regular basis.
We are very fortunate that today there are very comfortable life jackets made to fit all different shapes and sizes of people.
Many modern styles are quite breathable and can be worn even on the hottest summer days.
I am quite thankful for this when I’m doing boat patrol in the afternoon heat.
Please, keep this in mind while you are participating in water recreation in the future, if you can’t find your personal flotation device when things are going well you probably won’t be able to find it when things aren’t.
It may be very difficult to put it on while in the water as well.
It’s always fun to hand out a Dairy Queen ice cream card to the children who are wearing their personal flotation devices.
Maybe the parents need ice cream cards too.