{"id":38125,"date":"2025-07-04T13:11:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T13:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/38125\/"},"modified":"2025-07-04T13:11:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T13:11:08","slug":"jacksonville-beach-lifeguards-share-tips-for-keeping-children-safe-and-in-sight-during-4th-of-july-celebrations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/38125\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville Beach lifeguards share tips for keeping children safe and in sight during 4th of July celebrations"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 Lifeguards at Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue are always vigilant about water safety, but another critical part of their job is watching for children who can quickly wander off.<\/p>\n

Bringing families back together after children go missing is the biggest non-water challenge they face, especially during busy times.<\/p>\n

Scott Holmes, owner of Surf Into Summer and a surf instructor with more than 45 years of experience, says losing children on the beach is a frequent concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more people on the beach, the more chance I think you have of losing your kid,\u201d Holmes said.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s seen it happen often, even at his surf camp, where parents regularly ask if anyone has seen their children.<\/p>\n

According to the Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue 2024 Year in Review<\/a>, 74 missing people were reunited last year, slightly up from 70 in 2023.<\/p>\n

Holmes emphasized that crowded beaches, especially on holidays like the Fourth of July, increase the responsibility on parents to keep a close eye on their children.<\/p>\n

He recommends that parents establish a perimeter and talk with their children before heading into the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s lots of lifeguards. Maybe go and introduce them to the lifeguards, talk to the lifeguards, show them where the lifeguards are,\u201d Holmes said. \u201cMaybe have some points of reference: an umbrella or a building.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holmes pointed out how distractions like phones can take attention away from watching children, saying to \u201cput relaxation last.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGet off your phone, don\u2019t be so distracted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tom Curry, a Mandarin resident and grandfather, also stresses the importance of clear safety rules when visiting the beach with his grandson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI first talk to him about safety, going out in the water without letting me know,\u201d Curry said. \u201cCan\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curry says his 9-year-old grandson understands the rules and knows what is expected.<\/p>\n

When children are toddlers, Curry said, they can \u201cwander off in a second.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other safety tips for parents include using lanyards or wristbands with visible phone numbers, carrying a recent photo of the child for identification and dressing children in bright colors like orange or yellow to make them easier to spot.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. \u2013 Lifeguards at Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue are always vigilant about water safety, but another…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,30811,3188,723,7310,10765,12013,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,9629],"class_list":{"0":"post-38125","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-beach-safety","10":"tag-fl","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-jacksonville","13":"tag-jacksonville-beach","14":"tag-morning-show","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa","21":"tag-water-safety"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114795137139213311","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}