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ISR and similar programs have been in the spotlight before with social media videos showing dramatic clips of children being tossed into pools by themselves. Doctors' groups haven't endorsed such lessons and Dr. Sarah Denny, a pediatrician and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, said there isn't any scientific research available focusing on ISR techniques specifically.

\"One size doesn't fit all for kids. But there is some data that shows that starting swim lessons between ages 1 and 4 can have a protected effect against drowning,\" Denny told \"GMA.\" \"At this time, there is no data to support any benefit of ISR.\"

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents enroll children as young as 1 in swimming lessons, especially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, when many children did not receive lessons as they may have in the past, due to temporary pool closings, lesson cancellations and stay-at-home orders.

\"Research shows that formal swim lessons for children age 1 and older reduce the risk of drowning. Swim lessons are an important layer of protection to prevent drowning, in addition to pool fencing, close supervision and lifeguards while swimming, life jackets on boats and lakes, and CPR training,\" Denny said in a statement released by the American Academy of Pediatrics in June.

Granger and Amber Smith told \"GMA\" that above all, they wanted Maverick to learn how to navigate being in the water, formal training that River hadn't received, to prevent another tragedy.

\"Of course, he's uncomfortable in that water, but he's also uncomfortable [when we're] putting him in a car seat and buckling him up. But we don't listen to him crying and say, 'I guess we won't buckle him because he's uncomfortable right now,'\" Granger Smith said.

\"The key layer that we're missing is teaching our children survival skills,\" Amber Smith added. \"It's like you can have all those other layers, but if they break through those other layers and barriers, can they survive in the water? Can they find the air? And that's what River needed ... to be able to roll over and float and find the air and make a sound for us to hear him. And he didn't have those skills.\"

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