Young swimmers in our country should be taught to dive into the minimum depth of 5 feet from the earliest age. The danger should be reinforced in their minds throughout their lives. I've seen dozens of my friends dive into three feet of water and they don't get hurt, therefore, I can do it. The fact is that fortunately the vast majority of people that do dive into shallow water do not get injured, although many of them do hit their head on the bottom. Unfortunately, it does happen to over 1,000 people each year, probably all of whom had previously seen people dive into shallow water .
Diving is simple.
Everyone knows how to do it. Diving is not simple. There are very complex laws of physics which are totally unknown and not understood by the average recreational swimmer. The fact is that once your body leaves the deck or diving area, your body is completely out of control and that for an average recreational swimmer there's nothing you can do to change your trajectory or entry speed at that point.