Little girl struggles: viral video

[Imogen Finnly]

There has recently come about a short clip of a young girl with a spandex tail who apprears to struggle to get herself fully submerged in the water.
While, of course child safety is #1, i feel like the community is unfairly portrayed, by many people' (a few i know) baahing the hobby saying it is dangerous.
While i understand this mothers concern, she calls it a toy.
Which they arent. And without having any prior lessons with any sort of fins (i assume) she allows her daughter to use a mermaid tail. While some may pick it up naturally, some may not. And she shouldve done her homework.
In a comment i left on a friends Facebook while she shared this video, i mentioned you use a lot of muscles normally not used in tandom casual swimming and, having a monofin increaes the difficulty.
If you know what youre doing, and have prepared and or have done it before then its not dangerous. Any hobby or job has risks.
Like while i enjoy grooming, people assume i play with puppies and dogs always cooperate. And when i put my foot down, im a dog beater, when i raise my voice or am extremely frazzed im being abusive. If i had a nickle fpr every time i was bit or attacked, id be a wealthu lady. My point being, everything, ever has risks! No matter what it is.
Am i just being to defensive about this?
Its wasnt the lack of skill or difficulty she was having but (people in general ) making assumptions and false accusations.

formerly jayy

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Where is the video?

[Imogen Finnly]

All over youtube and face book. Ill pull it up.

formerly jayy

[Imogen Finnly]

I cant get the url and copy and paste it from Facebook and i can't find it on YouTube.

formerly jayy

[Mermaid Jaffa]

It must've been taken down. I have searched for it on youtube, can't find it.

What color tail was she wearing? I might have watched it previously...

[Imogen Finnly]

https://m.facebook.com/saved/?cref=29&ref=bookmark&app_id=586254444758776#!/story.php?story_fbid=10207400991088700&id=1404676572&ref=bookmark
Here it is.

formerly jayy

[Imogen Finnly]

Hope the link works

formerly jayy

[Cordelia]

I don't think I've seen the video. I do think that many would agree that a monofin =/= a toy. Yikes! There are definitely enough stories shared on Mernetwork of parents who don't keep a close eye on their children at pools that have lifeguards and someone else still has to save their child, so I am not surprised by this woman's flippant attitude. :/ While swimming with a monofin can be a fun and rewarding experience that definitely doesn't make it a toy. Just because fencing is fun exercise, doesn't mean a seven year old should be handed a sword and told to have at it. :P Same goes for many types of sporting equipment, which is what a monofin technically was designed for and mostly used for.

It's sad that one viral video can get everyone up in arms about mermaiding, when really they should be more concerned about the fact that the child's guardian was not within an arm's length to help her the moment she needed it.

[Imogen Finnly]

^^^👏👏👏👏
It just puts a bad name on people who do it. I got so worked up!
Exactly! You're not going to hand a kid a sword without at least weighing the risks. And then blame it on the teacher..smh

formerly jayy

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Link goes to an empty page. I agree, the parent should've been in the water with her. That's bad parenting to have the kid in danger and not be near her to rescue her if need be.

[Imogen Finnly]

Crap... how would i fix the link? Im not to tech smart.
At keast my friend who shared the video said she had mermaid friends and was like "they make it look easy! But they really have to work!" Something along those lines. So at least she wasnt being super narrow minded.

formerly jayy

[Mer-Crazy]

Link goes to an empty page. I agree, the parent should've been in the water with her. That's bad parenting to have the kid in danger and not be near her to rescue her if need be.
If it's the video I think it is, then the mum was in the water with her. (though it may be a different one) I'm trying to find it now. Basically what happens is the mum is lounging on a floaty thing in one of those cheap, instant pools you buy from stores that are like waist deep. The kid is in a tail, gets put in the pool and the mum's like 'do a flip!' girl does a flip and doesn't come up. After just a few seconds the mum's like "I don't think she can get up" and jumps out of the flaoty chair (which is right beside the little girl) and pulls her up.

YES, she should should not have said 'do a flip' when the girl probably had no experience in the tail.
BUT she was right there, and paying close attention to her at that point.
So it's a bit of good and bad parenting there.

Again if it's the video I'm thinking of. If not, I apologise haha

[Cordelia]

If that's it, Mer-Crazy, then I don't see the big deal. :rolleyes: That sounds like something that could happen without the tail, and that people just want to jump on the mer-hate bandwagon, because omg this is something (not) new! It must be feared!

Humans. :p

[Trident True]

As much as safety is important for kids and adults i do feel that parents need to take a step back and Evaluate the situation. they really need to ask themselves is my child ready for this, will they have difficulty swimming. etc etc. i think caution fits the situation better. Now I do have mixed feelings on this matter, but in my eyes it boils down to the parents to make the correct decision. its like chucking your child into the deep end of a pool and asking them to swim. if the child has no knowledge on how to swim then it's obvious that the child will have problems in the water. The same goes with a tail. You can have safety tips, rules etc on how to use the product but if the parent is not knowledgeable on how the product works then the parent can not teach their child how to use it correctly. its so easy to blame the PRODUCT instead of the parenting. parents that buy tails and think they are toys, well this does show their lack on education of the subject/ product they are purchasing.

[SeaGlass Siren]

ugh. i can't watch it as the link doesnt work. but i really want to go apeshit.

[AniaR]

The mom is actually recording the video her friend jumps in and saves. It's only on Facebook had over 4 million views I last checked but you couldn't comment directly on her video

[SeaGlass Siren]

http://i694.photobucket.com/albums/vv306/WithinDemise/gif/hades.gif

[Talia]

The mom is actually recording the video her friend jumps in and saves. It's only on Facebook had over 4 million views I last checked but you couldn't comment directly on her video

If that is the case, it very well may be a (I don't know if it is the right word) scam. You know, a girl who knows how to swim in a tail being told to "pretend" she does not know so the people could make a video to prove a point? I mean, if it was my child having problems I would drop the camera immediately and jump to the water to save her. I find curious how "convenient" is that it is a friend who does the saving while the mom keeps recording everything...

[Echidna]

That's a good point, Talia.

Now that I think about it, there are some more things that I find questionable.
For example; how does she get "stuck", exactly?
(The links don't work, so I have to guess here a bit)

If it happens in a pool, there is not much to get "stuck on" in the first place. (not like in a lake, where one could get stuck in waterplants, abandoned debris, fishing nets, etc).

Even if she managed to somehow get the fluke around her head (?!), the buoyancy should lift her to the surface no problem.
In fact, it would be really difficult to stay down in a shallow pool :p

So yes, there is a good chance they were doing this on purpose.

[AniaR]

It doesn't look on purpose. Kid just tries to flip and gets disoriented. Maybe got waterup her nose. Looks no different than me when I messup a flip

[AniaR]

This might work. If you're not on mobile delete the m in the URL

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10207400991088700&id=1404676572&ref=m_notif&notif_t=like

[Talia]

Grrr, still I am not able to watch it!

[Imogen Finnly]

It works for me, but im logged into my Facebook via the internet not the app. I dont trust the Facebook messenger app.


formerly jayy

[Echidna]

The link didn't work either way, but I could look up the woman's page manually.

She has since then responded very aggressively to anyone uttering criticism, including a new video showcasing how well her daughter can flip without a tail :rolleyes:

My view on the matter:

it's not faked or staged, it's the simple and unfortunate concurrence of
1) a little girl with no finswimming experience whatsoever, I'd even say she cannnot swim at all because flipping is the only thing she seems to be able to do
2) much too shallow water, I wouldn't do a flip with or without tail in water where I can easily stand on the bottom, and
3) a self-absorbed, self-righteous parent, who would rather blame a product (tail) rather than the fact her daughter cannot swim, or the water is too shallow for a flip.

You can see her attitude in the rant she posted when not everyone praised her
30605

I'm not trying to bash her or anything, but the fin is not at fault.

Fins should only be used by people who are confident swimmers, and certain water tricks need a certain water depth, and that depth becomes greater if a tail is involved.
That's it.

[AniaR]

Wowza lol

[AniaR]

That is really lame for someone to call her kid fat :(

[Mermaid Isabel]

the only thing is, did she ever read the instructions? most kid's tails come with a paper that says: "not a flotation device". many kids toys come with that paper as well, just like inflatable dolphins. the tail is not dangerous itself, but it's clear that it should be used under adult supervision ;)

ok now I can see the video, she just said that it should be used under an adult supervision; it is clear that it takes some time to learn to use it.
The people who said to complain to the company don't have a real point

[Trade Winds]

I have seen it. I asked a question on Fin Fun's facebook page regarding a sale, and people started replying to me saying how dangerous the tails were and freaking out. Really annoyed me. Know how to use the product and stick with your child. The intenet is so great at showing how people can mob something and not learn the facts and just be dumb. Everyone assumed it was Fin Fun's tails and started bashing the site.

[PearlieMae]

I've just spoken with the mom, and she's quite the reasonable person. Too bad the internet shaming machine and it's knee jerk reaction to everything has to mess everything up!

Me: Hi, I know you're getting a lot of attention for the mermaid tail video, and it's gotta be rough. I wanted to friend you so I could send you a note about it. I'm a pro mermaid and tailmaker (I make high end silicone performance tails for adults), and I just saw the video. I have heard about some of the comments you've been getting - I didn't read them - and from what I saw, everyone needs to calm down. You were right there supervising and did exactly what I would have done. Anyone with any common sense knows to supervise their kids in a pool. I appreciate that you aren't slamming the tail manufacturers or feeding into the clamor that is surrounding your video. I think it's reprehensible that anyone called your daughter fat because she isn't. If you have any mermaiding questions, I would be happy to answer them or point you to experts in the field. Have a great day! Jolene

Rebecca: Thank you , I do appreciate that,Im gonna take a pic of me wearing a mermaid tail, lol ,Im not againt it i wanted to show how it caught air and she couldnt get up, i k ow when i ask my husband to watch the kids in pool he will walk away and start doing things in the yard but with this tail you cant assume the will be ok even if they can swim,They have go be supervised especially if they are new to it as was my daughter.

She let me share a photo of her in the tail....it's on my mermaid page (https://www.facebook.com/MermaidPearlieMae)!

[Mermaid Momo]

I've flipped over like that before, but I think it's important to point out that the reason I flipped over like that and wasn't able to right myself was because 1) I didn't know how to swim and 2) this was the first body of water I ever encountered in my life that was large enough that I needed to swim (long story short, went to Disney World, went down a slide head first, and ended up in a hand stand and my dad had to come rescue me because I couldn't flip back over. Thank goodness I was smart enough not to take in a breath tho lol)

[AniaR]

Good for you Pearlie I thought about messaging her too. Is she Canadian?

I think part of the issue is this is the summer mermaids finally got big in Canada. People forget we had to buy stuff from the US and now monofins are finally sold locally. There was a news program two days ago talking about the bans. It's super viral in Canada right now :(

[Fun123joker]

this is another reason why im not so comfertable that mermaiding is becoming a trend. parents these days are getting "easy" ideas off the internet that never shows all the facts so the parent thinks its fun and try to put it on the kid. the parent however never does the research about it. it reminds me of fish keeping because it would be kid wants a fish, parent buys a bowl and leaves it around with kid then it dies and they blame the fish or the thing not at fault.
Now im not saying kids cant have tails, i got my tail when i was younger. its just that maybe moms wont do the thing this mom did and supervise thier children or consider how much effort it takes to swim in one and it may end up somthing bad.
the only thing the mom did wrong was telling the kid to flip when it was clear she wasnt experienced in a tail. bruh i dont even know how to flip. but its not like the mom was the problem

i guess im saying that. you know how our greatest fear is being the mermaid that drowns and gets the media going about how is dangerous. what if the mer that drowns is a kid?

[PearlieMae]

Good for you Pearlie I thought about messaging her too. Is she Canadian?

I think part of the issue is this is the summer mermaids finally got big in Canada. People forget we had to buy stuff from the US and now monofins are finally sold locally. There was a news program two days ago talking about the bans. It's super viral in Canada right now :(

Not sure where she's from. I didn't ask...Our conversation continued, but it was off topic, so I snipped it. Then she posted the pic and I asked if I could share it...

30609

[Rogue Siren]

A lot of parents/adults overestimate their kid's abilities. I help coach gymnastics. I was teaching a 2-3 year old class the other day, and at the end we let them play around in the foam pit. A parent was encouraging their child to jump in and do a flip! This child could barely do a forward roll or even jump off the mat into the foam. Sometimes they just don't think.

[AniaR]

I'm working with some artists in the community to create infographics we can all share to help promote education on the topic.

[Echidna]

A lot of parents/adults overestimate their kid's abilities. I help coach gymnastics. I was teaching a 2-3 year old class the other day, and at the end we let them play around in the foam pit. A parent was encouraging their child to jump in and do a flip! This child could barely do a forward roll or even jump off the mat into the foam. Sometimes they just don't think.

Indeed!
Most parents believe their kids are complete geniuses in every field, and love bragging with them.
This happened here too; the mom's proud of her daughter's "flipping abilities", so they got it on film instead of teaching her to swim with a tail beforehand.
And when it didn't turn out as they expected- although it's pretty much foreseeable with a small child barely able to swim or not at all-, it's the product's fault because it's "dangerous".

It's nice of you to reach out to the woman and be all sympathetic, but what happened is a complete nobrainer and not the fin's fault.
She should have made sure her daughter could swim and dive securely before even attempting that.

[Merman Chatfish]

Those still having problems go to https://video-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xft1/v/t42.1790-2/11108337_10207400997008848_213781087_n.mp4?efg=eyJ xZSI6InZpZGVvX2FkdmVydGlzZXJzXzIwMTUwNTIwLDIwMTUwN DAxIn0%3D&oh=956bcb99ec2f31516b45f2b4121c9593&oe=55821B9F

I think the problem that occurred with flipping with a tail is if you watch her flip without a tail (video her mom posted) she plugs her nose and kicks her legs to roll. As we know to roll with a tail you must use both arms to spin, but she has one hand plugging her nose. The girl should instead blow bubbles out of her nose so she has both arms to roll. Start off with rolling using the arms only, then eventually add the tail.

[PearlieMae]

The problem is that she NEVER swam with a monofin before, never wore a tail before, and is not a great swimmer, and the water was too shallow. You're looking at a kid who had a tail on for less than TEN MINUTES and is trying to do a trick she can probably do just fine without a tail.

Everyone needs to just back off the kid's lack of proficiency, and address the fact that people are engaging in histrionics over something they know nothing about.

[Cordelia]

After seeing the video (thanks for posting a link, Raina!) I would have to agree with PearlieMae. I cannot get over the fact that this young girl received body-negative comments, but I probably shouldn't be surprised. This is why I set everything to private and delete/block on my personal account. :/

I think the situation in the pool was handled just fine, and honestly, that could have happened to a kid who had never done a flip/was just learning how to flip (without a monofin). Heck, before last year I couldn't do a flip, and I'm no longer a kid! I would do a: look mom! And then get a: well, you kinda just rolled to the side.... :lol:

[Seatan]

I think part of the problem, too, was the depth of the pool. She was on the side of the pool and the bottom of the pool. So she was head down and then when she fell she was supported on one side by the wall instead of rising to the surface. Otherwise she likely would have just tipped over and come up. I think the main reason the flip didn't work is that she didn't know to expect the extra weight and length involved. It's a problem you have when you first start SCUBA diving, too: It's hard to remember you have an extra foot of length on you and more water resistance as well as weight! I can flip while holding my nose without problem as long as it's deep. Poor kid probably aimed for her normal height when going for the flip then realized her legs didn't pop over like expected (drag from the tail) and her head was on the bottom (extra length)! Poor thing! I have to admit I am not big on kids that age using mermaid tails without a swim instructor to teach them. Pre-teens, sure, but kids that young don't have the analytical skills to handle problems that might arise and so need to be taught by someone else, IMHO. And, honestly, I feel like that pool is simply too shallow for flipping unless you know how to use your hands on the bottom to propel you and protect your head.

But I don't think anyone is to blame at all. She is a very young kid in water, there is equal danger in any water--her father should NOT be walking away from the pool at that age! Thankfully she didn't seem too upset at all. I hate it that this is being used to diss mermaid tails. Should I bring up videos of every dangerous thing that had ever happened to young kids in water just to remind people that it's SWIMMING in general that is dangerous, not just one kind? Or how about every kid who has ever fallen off a bike and hit their head? Will we all hate on bikes then?

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Little girl is very lucky to have someone watching her back during tail swim. When I had my first tail swim, I went the wrong way and by the time I hit the surface I was nearly panicking!

[PearlieMae]

My first tail swim nearly killed me. I don't know if I've ever mentioned it! I had a homemade fabric tail that had a chiffon and wire coat hanger 'fluke' and I just jumped into a lake. ALONE. I got water up my nose and thrashed for a few seconds and totally panicked.

But then I remembered how good I was at swimming and that panic would not help, so I relaxed and floated to the top, coughed out the water, assessed the tail movement in the water and swam on from there. It was not an easy thing to do - to go against all reflex that would have drowned me - but I never forgot that heart-gripping panic and what a stupid move it was to just "dive in".

I don't know if that was a catalyst for watching others in the water, making sure they weren't struggling or what, but it's evident TO ME that the little girl in question, in her first swim in a tail, got a nose full of water, couldn't right herself and panicked. And her mom was right there to make sure she was okay. End of story. It could have happened WITH or WITHOUT a mermaid tail.

[Aziara]

I'm an adult, and I STILL can't get the hang of a front flip in a tail. I find backflips much easier (arch my back, and paddle with my hands like climbing a ladder), but front flips escape me. I certainly couldn't do either kind of flip while holding my nose! And I have had the experience of attempting a flip in shallow water--you need a lot more space than without a tail. I pretty much end up stuck with my fluke in the air, just like the video.
It does look like the little girl needs better swimming skills before attempting anything in a tail. While the second video shows her capable of flipping with no tail, it'd be a much better test of her skills to see her swim across the pool without touching bottom.
I'd say that arm floaties might be in order for a child this age learning to tailswim. That way, she could get the movement figured out without worrying about sinking. At least, that's my plan when my own little one is old enough to learn.

EDIT: Also, upon watching the second video again, she's kicking off the bottom for momentum for the flip. Can't do that in a tail.

[Echidna]

I still don't understand why they put a little girl in a tail and then tell her to "flip! go FLIP!".

That's like putting someone on a rope (for rope-walking) which they have never done before, and then tell them to do a flic-flac on it.
And when they fall off, post a warning video how the rope is unsafe and needs to be watched.

[Sherielle]

I still don't understand why they put a little girl in a tail and then tell her to "flip! go FLIP!".

That's like putting someone on a rope (for rope-walking) which they have never done before, and then tell them to do a flic-flac on it.
And when they fall off, post a warning video how the rope is unsafe and needs to be watched.
That was my thought! It's like they expected her to magically know how to do tricks now that she was in a mermaid tail.

[MadeleineTheMermaid]

That's a good point, Talia.

Now that I think about it, there are some more things that I find questionable.
For example; how does she get "stuck", exactly?
(The links don't work, so I have to guess here a bit)

If it happens in a pool, there is not much to get "stuck on" in the first place. (not like in a lake, where one could get stuck in waterplants, abandoned debris, fishing nets, etc).

Even if she managed to somehow get the fluke around her head (?!), the buoyancy should lift her to the surface no problem.
In fact, it would be really difficult to stay down in a shallow pool :p

So yes, there is a good chance they were doing this on purpose.

Its actually very easy to get stuck while doing a flip, if you don't have any experience. sometimes you don't have enough power, and you accidentally stop half way through. A few years back, when i had no idea what a mono fin was, I was practicing flips underwater and i got stuck A LOT. Luckily, I was able to get back up every time, but not with no struggle. now, I love doing flips and i am glad I kept practicing, even if i got some water up my nose.

[SIF]

Imogen, you are accurate in that this was a poor representation of tails and that the mother was an idiot.
I'd like to point out that the video that went viral to reiterate the unsafety of our tails was only one section of the original video, in which the mother puts her daughter in the tail and throws her in the water, admitting that the young girl has not had any proper swim lessons but stays afloat well enough. There's a small bit of clip at the beginning of the full video of her daughter doggy paddling to the edge of the pool when she calls her(and not well I will add)
While it is beyond ridiculous that people who jumped on the "ban them they are unsafe" train never bothered to view the full video(which did not go viral and was quickly overridden by varying shorter clips) the only thing we can do is dive deep and continue to prove that they are not unsafe, used properly and not alone.

Sent from my [device_name] using MerNetwork mobile app

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