Survival Children - Non-Fiction Writing Contest Submission by Joshua
Steve was content. He was a pretty happy man. As he lay in bed considering all that he had accomplished in the past four years he smiled. Sure, it took a while to get Stacy on board, but once he had, she had taken to prepping with eagerness. Steve lay back on his pillow considering the three month supply of gear that they had secured over these past few years.
Fuel, Food, Ammo, and medical supplies were all ready. He and Stacy had taken a number of classes to help understand some of the finer details of food preservation and “off grid” medicine. He loved it. Little did Steve realize that one of the biggest reasons he prepared was also the largest and most critical hole in his survival plan.
It was about four-thirty in the morning when Steve awoke to a horrible grinding rumbling thunder coming from behind the house. Before he could coherently think of what the noise could possibly be, the whole of the house shook. It felt like some giant had come and given the house a swift kick.
The sound of shattering glass could be heard everywhere. Stacy was nearly thrown out of bed by the concussion. Immediately, the sound of water could be clearly heard rushing into the house. Steven jumped out of bed and found himself in ankle deep water. He rushed to the window in the bedroom, the one facing the back of the property toward the hill, and pulled the curtain aside.
It was still too dark to see anything and as he reached toward the lamp by the bed he placed his hand on the window sill. There was water streaming in through the broken window and he yelped as he cut his hand on a jagged piece of broken window.
It suddenly dawned on Steve that there must have been some sort of mudslide or avalanche down the side of the mountain. Steve had second thoughts of attempting to turn on the electric light.
The next thing Steve became aware of was the howling of the four children in their bedrooms. Stacey was already headed toward the door and Steve jumped to follow her; cutting his bare foot on another piece of broken glass. They burst into the children’s bedroom to find that they too were filling with cold dark water.
Stacey grabbed the two girls, Jenny age 6 and Lynn age 4, and Steve got the two boys, Kyle age 9 and Rick age 12 out of bed. The children were all crying and hard to manage. None of them was in control of their emotions and added horribly to the confusion. Steve dragged the sobbing boys with him as he headed to the front door and could hear Stacey and the girls, screaming, following him.
He attempted to open the front door and discovered it jammed, likely from the massive hit the house took from the hill. Steve froze. His children were crying and screaming, his bug-out-bag was floating somewhere in the basement, and though he and Stacey were ready emotionally and psychologically; the major reason he had begun prepping in the first place had become the largest liability in the execution of his plan: the children…
In all my reading and looking around at various survival/prepping books and websites, it seems to me that there is a large negligence to proper preparation of children for any crisis, large or small. While some may point to the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts as a readymade prepping course for children, I tend to shy away from these groups.
There are many reasons and for the sake of not offending anyone, I will only say that I am critical of the modern equivalents of a traditionally solid set of programs. This paper will discuss the basics of child preparation and its importance.
When teaching my children (and a myriad of others that I am around continually) about crisis management; before I will begin talking about “hard” skills (shelter, water, fire), I teach them about “soft” skills. As most of you have probably read, the most important “skill” that can be learned is the resilience to survive.
In survival situations people die. Even the most resilient people can die. However, one thing is certain; quitters die more often. Soft skills are those which prepare the mind for dealing with high intensity situations, ranging from TEOTWAWKI to skinned knees.
Truthfully, a proper survival mindset begins at a skinned knee for children. When one of the children gets a “boo boo” I (with love and care) help them to get past the pain and realize the extent of their injury; sometimes with humor and sometimes with a stern hand. Even my three year old will barely succumb to a skinned elbow anymore.
Not because I am a mean jerk, but because she realized that there is no reward in whining but there is fun still to be had in the day and a bloody elbow isn’t going to stop that. We have a saying around my neighborhood in regards to any situation that might cause stress.
We will routinely ask if they “followed Rule #1”. Rule #1, as I teach it, is to NEVER FREAK OUT. It is the first rule of everything I teach, whether math or first aid, because freaking out never gets the job done. It locks our minds and we become casualties rather than survivors.
The children don’t execute this perfectly (duh), but they do know Rule #1 and they can be reminded of it. It has made an immense difference in both their lives and ours (as adults). So, the “soft” skill of preparing children’s minds is (IMHO) the most important thing you can teach them. As a side note, I DO NOT believe that TV, movies, or video games are the proper tools to do this. They are fake and promote a wrong expectation.
The next most important thing that the parents and children should understand is the children’s limitations. This can be taught by physical exercise programs. I highly recommend that children be involved in some sort of challenging physical exercise program; more importantly, that YOU be involved with them in the activity.
It will bear a lot less fruit to be involved vicariously through a soccer coach who will, in all likelihood, NOT be there when “it all goes down.” If you aren’t involved, you won’t really know what “little Jimmies” limits are and how hard his body can be pushed. We do a routine morning “endurance” class around here where the children do running drills, push-ups, and sit-ups (among other things).
This is not some marine style drill camp, but rather, a fun filled giggling fest as the children get into seeing who can outrun who and who has the best push-up form. This is supplemented by walks and load bearing hikes in increments (if you have to bug-out and there are six members of your family, do YOU want to carry all of that? I don’t).
Along side all these things, we continually teach the children various first aid techniques. This has proven invaluable in its execution. I have seen five year olds bandaging their little sisters scraped knee and they are doing it well! I believe that teaching the fundamentals of how the body works (anatomy/physiology) and repairs itself is crucial to an overall preparedness mindset.
If the children understand blood clotting (to a degree) then they will know why they need a certain bandage. Not only that, they will know why it is important to shoot an animal in the vitals, rather than “just anywhere”. My children learn about the rule of 3’s, wounds, burns, fractures, shock, hypothermia, and pathology/illness.
These branches of knowledge create a foundation for understanding wilderness survival (e.g. edible plants and animals and water purification). Clearly, there are levels to this and teaching to their level is as important as teaching them. Don’t underestimate their ability to learn, however.
It is not until I believe that they have a proper foundational knowledge of the previous items that I begin to really teach them any “hard” skills. The idea of building shelter, making fire, and finding potable water don’t really do them any good if they will collapse at the first sign of adversity.
Imagine if, in the scenario that started this essay, Steve and Stacey’s children had had a proper foundation in “Rule #1”, a known set of physical limitation and abilities, and proper understanding of their bodies physiological reactions to the adverse conditions that they found themselves in. The scenario could have been drastically different. Instead of freezing up with arms full of shocked children, they could have had a family team. It is not supplies that make a good “prepper”, but skills. This goes for children too.
{ 14 comments }
Great article. I’m glad to know I’, not the only one who teaches “don’t panic!”. 5yo who bandages herself and can build a shelter if she gets lost. She’s better in woods than alot of adults I know. She has her own pack and can hump it for our long walks. Today she is learning about how to purify water and why that is important. We have fun learning together, and that is the best part.
Excellent post. Well written. It sounds as though you have used this tried and true wisdom for years and have seen many benefits. All of us need to use Rule #1 in every situation. Well done.
I am the mother of seven children, all grown now and bringing me beautiful and precious grandbabies. Five of my children are boys. We did have them in Boy Scouts, but the Scout Master was a fantastic guy with six sons of his own. My husband went on hikes and campouts with them a lot. If your local Scout troop is not up to par, take part. Volunteer.
I agree, the children need to be prepared to help themselves in emergencies and in the rest of their life. They can darned well put away their own clean laundry, and (if they’re big enough) they can scoop up their little sister and carry her home if her knees are skinned.
Everyone, EVERYONE needs to know basic first aid. I’ve met adults who will stand there and stare at gushing blood, not knowing the stupidly simple “put pressure on it”. Five year olds can be taught this. Screaming does not stop bleeding! Screaming is reserved for when you are being eaten, being murdered or being abducted.
I diligently taught my children that if an emergency happened, get behind me (Not in front where you hinder my actions) and do what I do. Teach them when to run, and WHERE to run to! No hiding under beds in a fire! Teach them when to fight back, and HOW to fight back.
“Screaming is reserved for when you are being eaten, being murdered or being abducted.”
You’re so right about that – so many times, I hear screaming for no apparent reason -one was because a BUTTERFLY was near!
“Screaming is reserved for when you are being eaten, being murdered or being abducted.” Funny and true!
I was on a bus and a little girl was sitting next to me. A moth popped up and started flying about much to the girls’ distress. I caught it and calmed her down, eventually coaxing her to look at it and even touch it. Then her mother looked over, saw she was touching a moth and started screaming in fear! Needless to say the girl started screaming again too so I put the moth out the window in disgust.
I also found this article to be interesting-
Kids and sleep during a crisis – http://www.survivalblog.com/2010/03/kids_and_sleep_during_a_crisis.html
Too true MM. If the local scout troop is weak it is because you failed. Not the BSA, not the Scout Master, YOU. If you can’t look to your left or right and see people that will help you make it through TEOTWAWKI then you have only yourself to blame. Our local Scout Master is a great guy. We get young men from a large geographic area in our small troop. They will go on to lead our community, state and country. Why wouldn’t we want them to be the best?
Get involved. Teach merit badges. Volunteer.
I used rule #1 when bringing up my daughter, too. Twice she used it other than minor events when growing up, one was a very dangerous situation. Just recently she used it again when my husband had a major seizure last week. It does work!
When she left for university two years ago, she was the only one around her who could cook, clean, do laundry, carry out first aid (she even makes her own salves), balance a budget and basically sort things out on her own.
I’m so glad that I home-educated her!
Good article. I agree that children are often left out of the planning for SHTF situations. They need not be, in fact they should be an integral part of prepping.
I’ve found that giving kids specific tasks to do will help them focus. And jobs will make them feel they are doing something worthwhile, which of course they are. They should become so familiar with the task they are assigned that they can do it almost automatically. Of course, they should not get to that point. If they do, they will lose focus of the task and start to think about the trouble around them. So, I recommend (based on my own experiences) that children be assigned a task to practice regularly until they are almost doing so by muscle memory. Then give them a new task to learn. After that task is nearly mastered, have the child practice both tasks, one after the other or in conjuntion if possible. Eventually the kids will have several tasks they can handle, with some thought, and they will keep busy so they don’t have time to panic. Busy hands make happy minds.
My kids were assigned such tasks as putting on their shoes before doing anything else. Then the elder son is to turn off the natural gas at the meter. The younger son is tasked with finding the pets and keeping them under his control. My daughter was assigned to lead her younger brothers to the basement or the front yard, depending on the circumstances – which were explained each time we practiced our procedures. Then each child was taught the jobs of the other kids so there would be backup in the event one of them can’t perform his/her job. That is the hardest part to convey, for me anyway. The thought that one of my kids might not be able to do the task due to injury, entrapment, or death is very difficult to contemplate, which is good practice for my own mental toughness.
Kids are little people, not little pets. We must remember to treat them as little people so they are not left out nor left to worry. Give them a useful job and leave them to it. Right on, Joshua.
I would like to emphasis that I meant NO offense to the scouts or any scouting folks. Please forgive me for coming across wrong. One of the reasons I haven’t gone the scout route is that I am teaching both young men and ladies these skills. The exclusive nature of BSA/GSA limits my ability to fully engage both sexes at the same time and often those agencies don’t cover the same things.
Venturing?
The beauty of Scouting is that your sons have access to info that you are not expert on. If they are good scouts they can then teach the same skill to their sibs. But look up Venturing as part of BSA.
Now don’t mistake me, I love my girls entirely, and they are my life as much as my boys, but looking out at the world it seems to me that there is more incentive and opportunity for boys to go “bad”. There seems to be more need to engage boys in moral activities that obviously teach work ethic and self-sufficiency than with girls. Males want to be tough and brave by nature of their hormones. Yes, girls can and do most definitely find the bad routs in life. But prison statistics alone prove it’s not as common nor severe.
A good Scout program serves this need in boys, and certainly would do so for girls as well, but it’s also good for boys to go girl-less and learn the “guy things” from MEN and learn how to be MEN, not just amorphous “persons”.
Everything my boys learned came home and got taught to the girls. They demand in their own way to not be left out. But the training of girls gets done in a different way. Most certainly they can, and should learn the same things. Boys should be able to cook a meal and diaper a baby and girls should be able to butcher a rabbit and repair a broken door hinge. But they are learning morals along with skills and they learn it in different ways. Girls should not be taught to BE men. They should be taught to be strong, brave, able women, not just amorphous “persons.”
Sorry, Creekmore. I know this wasn’t the topic, but it bloomed.
And thank you Joshua. I took no offense at all. It was a very good post.
Great post… looking forward to teaching Rule #1 to my young son…
I have had trouble finding advice for prepping children in most survivalist blogs and forums. Maybe I am missing something…
So far, I have only seen one article on prepping with toddlers. It had to do with picky eaters. My son is not even two yet, and I frequently worry about what to do if the world ends in the next year.
What to do if he isn’t potty trained yet? How to get him to be quiet if needed? If long-distance travel by foot is necessary, how to carry him and supplies?
I would appreciate it if someone could point me towards some information resources on this topic!
I know how you feel, I have a six month old.
My advice is to start practicing now on the things that worry you. Little ones understand more than you might think and can be trained quite early.
Here are some ideas for carrying him – http://www.sleepingbaby.net/jan/Baby/index.html
Try out some of them and start going on walks, making them longer and harder (up hill, in bushland etc) as your endurance grows. You should find something that suits. Or get a bike baby cart that you can tow behind you, bike or not. Prams can also carry alot of weight, you could experiment with different types of wheels for more rugged terrain.
You might be suprised to know that many cultures never use nappies at all. You can start teaching him to potty now. Find out more here – http://www.diaperfreebaby.org/
If you are eating your preps regularly he shouldn’t be too fussy about them. But even if he is, no child will starve themselves to death when there is food around. He might go hungry awhile but he will eat when he is hungry enough.
As for quiet, start playing games where he has to be quiet and still or the monster (or whatever) will get him. This is to be a fun game, not a scary one, and involve other children if possible to make it more fun. If he understands what you mean when you tell him to be ‘small’ or whatever the word/signal is he might pick up on your fear or tension and do it for real.
Mum and I used to play a stranger danger game with my 3yr old brother. We belive it saved his life when a man tried to abduct him. Lucky for him his ‘training’ kicked in and he got away. A man of his description killed another little boy just a few days later. So training games can pay off.
The most info in one spot I’ve found is over at survivalblog.com, just do a search on children or babies and sift through. Also type into google ‘children shtf’ and variations. Alot comes up, granted theres not much of use but sift through it and you’re sure to come up with something worthwhile.
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