Gold Coast lifesavers have slammed parents for using the service as babysitters while they go shopping.
Yes, you read that right.
Parents are taking their children to the beach and leaving them unsupervised while they take off to attend to other things and officials are concerned that doing so may have devastating consequences.
With the school holidays underway, Lifesavers say they fear the problem will only get worse with parents instilling a false sense of safety with lifesavers. With lots of unsupervised children around they fear a drowning may be just around the corner as their attention is divided.
Gold Coast lifesaving co-ordinator Nathan Fife told the Courier Mail that leaving kids unattended on the beach puts pressure on guards to properly do their jobs.
“They’re out there to look after everyone on the beach — not just two or three kids,” he said.
Surprisingly the problem seems to be with local families on the Gold Coast rather than with tourists as many may assume. Locals may feel comfortable with the area and take less care when it comes to supervision.
Patrol captain at Surfers Paradise, Shane Aiken, told The Courier Mail that in his experience the most common scenario is parents leaving their kids alone to go shopping.
