Summer is here! In the hot months when the kids are out of school, chances are that you will spend a lot of time in the water at the pool. Swimming is an excellent way to cool off when the sun is beating down. You can work on your tan, read a book, float in the water on a raft, or swim laps for exercise. While pools are a trademark of summertime, they also come with some dangers. If you aren't careful, your children could get hurt and end up with a bummer of a summer. In fact, sometimes pool mishaps can have consequences worse than a mere injury.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recently announced that drowning in swimming pools is still the leading cause of unintentional death in young children. Most children who perish from drowning in a pool are between 1 and 2 years old and fell into a residential swimming pool when unattended. If you plan to let your child spend the summer in the water, make sure that he or she gets proper swim lessons first.

Many communities have swim programs where your child can learn how to stay buoyant and move in the water. If your child cannot swim, never let him or her in the water without the proper flotation devices, even if the water is shallow. These include water wings, a flotation ring, or an infant life vest. Do not allow your child to hold onto a water noodle or another floating water toy in place of water wings and a life vest. When your child still needs these devices to stay afloat, you should always stand right beside him or her in the pool. Never leave a child unattended in the pool area, whether or not he or she can swim. If he or she were to fall unconscious or get injured, he or she might drown in the water.

Make sure to keep children from any drains, pipes or other openings in the pool when they are swimming. You would not want them to get their foot caught in one of these places while they are under the water. Be very careful letting your children dive off of the diving board or edge of the pool. They should only do this in the deep end of a pool, and only if that deep end is at least 8.5 feet to the floor. Make sure that children never jump into the water when another child is in close proximity.

Every public pool is required to post a CPR instructional near the water, so that men and women can use it in case of an emergency. If it highly suggested that you take a CPR training course if you plan to let your children swim. This is especially true if you own a pool. Some states require all homeowners with personal pools to post the CPR guidelines there as well. If you own a pool, it is highly suggested that you surround the area with a tall fence. This will protect your children from wandering into the pool area when they are not supposed to. If you have toddlers, installing a fence could save their lives.

Be careful with technology when near a pool. A laptop computer or a telephone might malfunction in the water, and could be very dangerous. Another important tip: watch out when putting flotation devices such as rafts or islands into a pool. A young child might swim underneath one of these plastic toys and get stuck. Never let your children get into the pool if there is a cover over it. If your child was injured or killed in a pool accident that was not your fault and could have been prevented by someone else, you may want to file a personal injury lawsuit.