Should swimming lessons be mandatory in schools?

Jet.feng (China)

As a boy born in a rural area, I learnt swimming in a river near my home when I was 7 or 8 years old. I used to play in the river with boys my same age every summer, which was also the only entertainment we could make at that time, but we enjoyed it so much! I just learnt how to dog paddle (breaststroke) because no one taught us. Until I entered university, I got a chance to enhance my swimming skills in PE lessons. Compared with my classmates, I felt lucky because most of them couldn't swim.

I think it's a good idea for schools to teach students to swim. But as a matter of fact, not every school in China has the conditions to do that. In some less-developed areas, there is not even a swimming pool for a whole county with a population of half a million people.