NSBNews.net photo by Sera Frederick / The days of 16-year-old lifeguards on the World's Most Famous Beach are over. The photo taken here is from last year on the beach in New Smyrna Beach. The age of this lifeguard is not known, but illustrates the youth of some beach rescuers.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The question we asked Volusia County officials after receiving a press release Friday morning announcing the minimum age of 17 for lifeguard tryouts on the World's Most Famous Beach was blunt: "Will the 17-year-olds be able to handle the really fat swimmers in trouble?"
As expected, we got no response. Whether underage lifeguards in bikinis are strong enough to rescue obese people is not why the county is raising the age limit. The real reason? Jailbait sex.
That means 16-year-olds are no longer allowed to work as lifeguards, ending a nearly century-old tradition.
County Manager Jim Dinneen told the News-Journal last month that he was concerned some of these younger lifeguards might not be strong enough to rescue obese people struggling in the surf. What he really meant, though, is he can't trust his adult male lifeguards with 16-year-old girls in bikinis. You know the term: Jailbait.
As described in Wikipedia, Jailbait or Johnny bait is American English slang for a person who is younger than the legal age of consent for sexual activity, but physically mature enough to be mistaken for an adult and be considered sexually desirable.The term is highly nuanced due to its criminal law connotations.
Volusia County has been rocked by a sex scandal involving allegations that lifeguards twice the age of underage girls coaxed them into having sex -- lots of it.
But don't tell the county manager that. He has a very different reason for raising the minimum age of lifeguards from 16 to 17, with returning 17-year-olds allowed this year. And in 2013, the minimum age will be 18 -- the legal age between consenting adults for hardcore hanky panky on the beach in Florida without the county getting sued.
"Some of these people we save are big people," Dinneen told the Daytona Beach newspaper. "The bottom line is, I'm having a concern about having a 16-year-old kid out there drowning because they tried to bring somebody in."
The News-Journal has a story in today's edition, announcing the age increase with no mention of the sex scandal.
A 16-year-old lifeguard filed suit in federal court in 2010, alleging three adult lifeguards coaxed her into having sex with each of them. But Dinneen in last month's News-Journal interview saw things differently, denying the change in policy had anything to do with carnal interests.
"Some of these people we save are big people," Dinneen was quoted as saying in the published Jan. 24 story. "The bottom line is, I'm having a concern about having a 16-year-old kid out there drowning because they tried to bring somebody in." Dinneen's argument doesn't hold water, though.
That's because no 16-year-old lifeguards have drowned rescuing fat people or skinny people or short people or tall people. It's kind of weird why the News-Journal made no connection to the sex angle in the story in today's paper, which I read overnight online.
I swear: Some of these high-priced bureaucrats must think its citizens are really stupid to buy into the reasons they cite for making changes in the face of adversity instead of just being honest. And you'll notice how the elected officials stay quietly in the background. I have yet to have the pleasure of speaking with Dinneen directly, especially with my dogged pursuit of the scandal involving the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority.
Instead, I get passed over to county spokesman Dave Byron, whose responses are quite predictable. Then again, does Dinneen want to answer questions from an award-winning investigative reporter? New Smyrna Beach City Manager Pam Brangaccio, another high-priced administrator, won't answer my questions involving the city's CRA scandal and the elected officials with her have become suddenly media shy.
As stated many times previously in this forum, it's election year and one way or another, those in elected positions at the municipal and county levels are going to have to start answering questions that are only going to get more intense. They know it and they know I know it.
In the age of Internet media with Google news directories and search engines, word travels fast. This write-up certainly will because it appeals to "prurient" interests, a term I learned in my undergraduate political science/public administration studies.
As defined in Webster's dictionary, the word prurient is "marked by or arousing an immoderate or unwholesome interest or desire; especially, marked by, arousing, or appealing to sexual desire."
By the way, here is the press release from Volusia County government on lifeguard tryouts, without, of course, any mention of age restrictions:
VOLUSIA COUNTY COMMUNITY INFORMATION FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 10, 2012
Media contact: Pat Kuehn
SUMMER LIFEGUARD TRYOUTS BEGIN FEB. 25
Swim tryouts for Volusia County summer lifeguard positions will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Port Orange YMCA, 4701 City Center Pkwy.; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at the Daytona State College Aquatic Center, 1200 W. International Speedway; and 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, March 10, at the Ormond Beach YMCA, 500 Sterthaus Drive.
Applicants must be at least 17 and be able to swim 500 meters in under 10 minutes, swim 50 yards in under 30 seconds, and run a half-mile in under 3 minutes, 15 seconds. Candidates considered for hiring will undergo a background check, physical and drug screening. Starting pay is $9.37 an hour.
Those who meet the requirements must attend classes from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 12 to 17 at the Daytona State College Aquatic Center and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 17, 18, 24, 25 and 31 and April 1 at the Lifeguard Headquarters and Administration Center, 515 S. Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach. Recruits also must complete a 40-hour first responder/CPR course.
For more information, please call the Beach Safety Division at 386-239-6414, ext. 230.
NSB News is a 24/7 Internet newspaper in New Smyrna Beach accessed through NSBNews.net and VolusiaNews.net, launched April 7, 2008, by award-winning breaking news and investigative reporter Henry Frederick and award-winning blogger Peter Mallory. It is the first fully-online newspaper in Florida and among the few in the nation with continuous editorial content picked up by Google News Directories.