Why I Do It!

By Christine Insinga

If you've ever had a pool, or swam in someone elses, chances are you have at least one terrific memory that produces an ear to ear grin. That first game of Marco Polo, cannon balls, or just splashing till your body hurt. For all you parents- the first time you put your little one in the water...and they LAUGHED! How about the first time they went in WITHOUT swimmies?

Then there is the horrific story we so unfortunately, yet inevitably,  end up reporting every summer: the backyard pool drowning. Today it was a beautiful little girl named Arianna. She was just 2 years old and the THIRD child to die that way in less than 5 weeks.  There was also a heroic nanny who was killed when she jumped into a pool after a young boy.

It is a tragedy, a horror and as a reporter I assure you, it is a scene we do NOT ever really WANT to go to.  It's impossible to know what you're walking into when reporting on any tragedy. Some families are actually welcoming and eager to share stories of their loved one, grateful we care enough to ask.  Others are not. Both reactions are completely understandable, in my book.  I don't know how I'd react if I was on the other side; probably not very kindly to be quite honest but yes, it's part of the job.

Why would anyone want such a job? I'll tell you my reasons.  But this is my very first blog folks so commenters please be kind.  I do it with the hope of, once in a while,  uncovering a kernel of truth.  I do it with the hope that by the end of my report, I've helped inform someone about something.  There's a new house with 5 sex offenders right in your neighborhood, that your taxes could be going up AGAIN, your son's classmate just won the Intel Science Competition, that not all towns require you to put a gate around your pool but ALL pools installed in 2006 and after are required to have motion alarms.

Every story, I hope, will help someone else's tomorrow be a little safer, a little better... simply because they know a little more. 

Comments

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(oops- i meant paragraph breaks in your other one)

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Nicely done. Well said. (Next time, try paragraph breaks so it's easier to read.)

[Jimmy's mom]

I cringe everytime I hear about another child drowning. My son James Thomas died 10/13/99. His drowning was the result of a neighbors fish pond on their front lawn.Just decorative landscaping we thought. I remember that summer hearing about so many drownings and thinking that could never happen to me, I was a good mother and was so careful around pools. Can't you report the tragedy as just that instead of trying to question the neighbors to find out what kind of family they are? The police will launch an investigation to determine if there is any wrongdoing. Even if there isn't any the parents will punish themselves forever anyway. I appreciate the senstivity of it all and I hope you will also. My prayers to all the families that are grieving.