Teaching Moment

NASBLA committee develops boating safety educational tool

Every moment counts. Are you, as a marine law enforcement officer, making the most of them?

Marine law enforcement officers interact with boaters every day. During these interactions, enforcement officers may be dealing with violations…but they also have a chance to educate and influence boating behaviors, one boater at a time. We refer to this as a "Teaching Moment."

For example, while on patrol, an officer stops a boat with a family on board. One of the children is wearing a life jacket that is clearly too large for him. The officer notices a child's life jacket onboard that would fit the child properly. This is a great opportunity for the officer to share key safety messaging on life jackets with the family and demonstrate how to fit a child's life jacket properly and turn the encounter into a Teaching Moment.

NASBLA's Enforcement & Training Committee has posted a series of short Teaching Moment articles, in both Small Craft Advisory and in NASBLA Weekly, to stimulate your interactions with the boating public and offer up some simple examples for you to take advantage of.