We have always known that kids swimming lessons are essential to ensure the safety of children. Finally, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) agrees! According to a report from CBS News, the organization has updated their guidelines to parents:

The AAP stresses all children should learn to swim and children and teens should wear life jackets when near bodies of water. Studies show that swim lessons starting around age 1 can reduce a child’s risk of drowning. Experts say the lessons need to teach children basic water skills, as well as water safety.

Safety experts agree that kids swimming lessons will save lives:

“When a child is in and around water, we need constant attentive supervision, touch supervision, which means they are within an arm’s length of that child when they are in the water,” Dr. Sarah Denny, an emergency physician at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio and an author of the AAP report, told CBS News.

Kids ages 1 to 4 are at the highest risk for drowning and many deaths happen when children have unexpected access to water.

CBS News even spoke with swim educators like San Antonio’s Good Swim:

“Floating, grasping the wall, climbing in and out of the water turning back to the wall, a lot of times children end up falling into the water and they look to the furthest point and if they just turned around they would be better off,” said Katie Lee of the Goldfish Swim School in Long Island, New York.

You can read the full CBS News article Kids should start swimming lessons at 1 year old, safety experts say at CBSNews.com or the full report on Prevention of Drowning on the AAP site.