Outrage over nine-month-old's swim class

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A video clip of a swimming instructor holding a nine-month-old baby by the ankle and dipping him in a swimming pool has caused a sensation on social media after the boy's mother shared it on Facebook.

Roxanne Turner from Perth, Australia captured the moment her son Max attended the Kid Aquatic Survival School in Quinn Rocks, Western Australia.

Footage shows the class' instructor, Daria, holding Max above the surface of the pool before dropping him head first into the water.

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Max was seen struggling face down in the water for a few moments before instinctively turning over and floating without fear.

The video has been widely circulated on Facebook, with some web users saying they found it difficult to watch the footage.

Roxanne Turner explained that Max attended the school on weekdays for ten minutes over an eight-week period to learn floating techniques asked, "Traditional swimming lessons teach your child that there is an edge to hold onto and arms to reach out for, but what happens when there isn't an edge and they can't find the side?"

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She went on to say that the survival school aims to enable children of any age to safely navigate in the water and to not rely on their parents who might not always be around to help them.

The video has become a hit on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, where it has been viewed more than nine million times, attracting in excess of 5,000 comments, expressing both admiration and dismay.

"Swimming in winter and putting the baby upside down in the water is called education in Australia or the US but might be called abuse in China," @Bingtangyinshenwa commented.

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"Chinese grannies will swear after watching," @Biaoqingbaogaoxiaowushuiyin commented, implying that the older generation of Chinese is inclined to spoil their grandsons or granddaughters.

"Babies instinctively like water. Swimming is fetuses’ instinct when they are in the womb," said @Zhujiaohongpaoyedi.

(Sources: Agencies)