German children are drowning because parents are obsessed with smartphones, lifeguards warn

German lifeguards have said that a recent spate of child drownings is down to the inattentiveness of parents who are obsessed with their smartphones.

The German Lifeguard Association (DLRG), an organization with a 40,000-strong membership, said that among the 279 people who have drowned in the country so far this year, 20 were children under the age of 15. Some 40 victims were aged between 16 and 25. One recent case involved a seven-year-old boy whose body was found in an open-air pool in Bavaria.

“We see people on a daily basis who treat swimming pools like a kindergarten and just don’t pay attention,” Harzheim said. “More and more parents look at their smartphone and no longer to the left or right - and certainly not after their children.”

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Because for some, their phones are more important.

This probably applies to traffic accidents and kidnapped children also.