Change Your Kids Chances
Whether or not your children could survive without you is
not a topic that any parent truly wants to think about.
But it’s very important.
Most children in the industrialized world today don’t have
much in terms of survival skills. But you as their parent
can change that and significantly increase their chances
of survival in a worst-case scenario.
* Spark your children’s interest
With children, half of the battle is getting them to
actually want to learn.
If you approach the topic the wrong way, you may as well
be speaking to a brick wall. Worse yet, your children may
develop an aversion to the entire concept of survivalism.
There is no one proven technique to make any child a
prepper at heart. You have to do what works with your
child.
Maybe your child has the kind of personality that would be
easiest swayed if you made everything into a game? Refer
to the last newsletter for lots of playtime tips.
Maybe your child is an over-achiever? Give him or her more
responsibilities and tasks, while making sure to keep
motivation running high.
Maybe your child is more socially motivated? Make disaster
prepping something you do together, and let your child be a
confidant in your plans – to a certain degree, of course.
* Plan for your own demise
It’s not a lovely thought, imagining what would happen if
you were not around, whether you are simply far away or
something far more sinister.
Nonetheless, this is what you must do for the sake of your
family.
Think about what would happen, in the various disaster
scenarios you have been working to prep for, if you were
not around.
If you don’t like the way that plays out with your kids
flying solo, then then it’s time to create an alternative
plan, one that swings into action if you are not there.
If your children are not old enough to be expected to take
care of themselves, you must arrange for someone to help
them and they must know how to get in touch with that
person.
Even if they are old enough to get themselves to a safe
house or to whether the storm, you must ensure that they
know the plan by heart. Drills are your best friend.
* A properly prepared bug-out bag
Planning a bug out is difficult as it is, but it is all
the more difficult when you are planning to hightail it
out of there with children.
Young children and teenagers cannot carry as much as an
adult so, to be safe, pack the majority of your family’s
supplies in a main bag and let the children carry less.
This becomes a problem when you’re not there. Who will
carry the main supplies? This is something that you will
have to figure out to help save your children.
If a friend agrees to be their bug-out leader, in case you
cannot fulfill the role, will that friend be able to come
to the house and pick up that bag?
If not, you will have to figure something out, such as
supplying your friend with a bag of his or her own, or
caching supplies at a meeting point.
* First aid
In addition to knowing your but out and bug in plans, and
having the right tools available, your children must have
a number of skills.
Quite possibly one of the most important skills for
anyone, survivalist or not, is some rudimentary knowledge
of how to provide first aid.
We don’t necessarily have to make our children into field
physicians, but they need to know enough to patch up
themselves and their siblings.
The sense of self-reliance and self-confidence that comes
out of knowing such things is often almost as important as
the skill itself.
* Bug-out skills
If your child has a bug-out bag, you already have a list of
necessary skill sets:
Your child needs to know how to properly use all of the
items in his or her bag!
There is little use giving your children tents, camping
stoves, paracord and water filters if they don’t know
what to do with them.
An emergency situation is no time to start figuring things
out. Practice regularly!
* Tool usage and safety
In addition to all of the things that your child has in
his or her bug-out bag, you are going to have to practice
using various tools safely.
If your children are going to shelter in place without
you, they are going to have to be able to use all of the
tools that come with that job.
And they are going to have to use them safely!
Many parents balk at the idea of putting a large sharp
knife, a saw or any such tool in their children’s hands,
but the sooner they learn safe tool usage, the safer they
will be.
Assuming that they have the concentration and coordination
to use the tools safely under your supervision, that is!
I’m not advocating handing a baby a box cutter!
* Basic survival skills
Given how much there is to prepare your children for, it
is a bit much to try to teach them hardcore skills like
surviving in the wild for two weeks with nothing but a
knife…
…but start them off on some basic wilderness and urban
survival skills nonetheless!
Finding water is a very important skill to learn, for
example. Identifying plants that are poisonous to the
touch is another.
You want your children to know how to behave around wild
animals, seen and unseen, and many other things, no doubt.
Preparing your children for the eventuality that they will
have to get through an emergency on their own, as you can
see, does not have to be terribly difficult.
But it does require taking some time and serious thinking.
So until next time, help your children to stay prepared!
If you haven’t already, check out this video that shows
you steps to take to keep your family safe in a disaster:
==> https://survivalventure.com/go/myfamilysurvival
Happy prepping,
Victor
https://survivalventure.com