In a video that went viral on Facebook, Keri Morrison, the baby’s mother, is seen calmly enticing her 13-month-old baby girl into a swimming pool with an interesting object and letting her topple headfirst into the water. The baby is then left to fend for herself to keep afloat.
“So hard to watch but every kid should learn this young,” the video was captioned. After the clip was posted, it sparked debate among parents. While some parents praised Keri for teaching her baby to “self-save” herself, some criticized the mom for bad parenting.
One social media user wrote: “Mixed emotions! Good to teach young ones yes, but so upsetting watching her struggle, and clearly not like it! I understand this may save her life, but so will pool alarms, baby gates, supervision etc. I don’t even know how I feel about this video other than; sad! All I wanted to do was just pick her up and comfort her!”
“Child was not in any danger. There were obviously adults around and the baby was doing well. Great parenting. Showing others how this teaching can save lives,” another commented.
Defending her actions, Keri ultimately revealed the real reason she and her husband did this.
The mother recounted a family holiday in Orlando in 2013, when their two-and-a-half-year-old son, Jake, wandered away through the back door of where they were staying and fell off the dock into the intracoastal waterway. Jake tragically drowned.
The devastated parents decided to face their heartache and vowed to do everything in their power to teach their young to swim. By the time Julia was 13 months, she had been trained to “self-save.” When faced with a life-or-death situation, it’s important to stay calm and breathe, and Keri taught this to her baby, while training her to float.
Ashleigh Bullivant from Infant Swimming Resource explains that the children are “taught everything incrementally in a very gentle way [that] honors the way they learn physically. They are taught breathing exercises with the aim of eventually being able to hold their breath.”
A 10-minute training session daily over four weeks can teach babies to swim. It’s a necessary life skill, essential to any parent’s peace of mind. Water is known to be the “silent killer”—less than a cup of water can cause drowning.
“To me, I’m protecting her, and that is what a mother is supposed to do—protect her. To see her face above the water at such a young age and know what to do,” Keri said. “I feel like I failed my son and I’m not going to fail my daughters.”
So, while some onlookers may spit the word “neglect” and condemn her, in truth, all Keri sees is love for her daughters and a desire to keep them safe. Keri added: “I know the alternative.”
In that viral video, Keri lets her baby fall into a swimming pool and does nothing to help—a heart-stopping moment that makes even us viewers gasp for air from fear. But there is a reason behind this mother’s action, and it’s heartbreaking as well as brave.
