The 4 Survival Skills Every Kid Should Know
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Some of outdoor adventurer Bear Grylls’ biggest fans are kids. Their eyes widen at his derring-do, and boys and girls alike admire his survival skills and savvy. But the survival skills that are more likely to keep our kids safe and sound are actually far more mundane! Here are four survival skills that every kid should know, along with a few tips for parents.
What to do if lost
A lost child is a scared child, and usually their first instinct is to begin searching for their family. Train your children to stop and sit as soon as they realize they are lost. Assure them that, no matter how scared they might be, you are searching for them at that very moment; but also that, if they keep moving around, it will take longer to find them. Consider equipping your children with an inexpensive cell phone and when venturing outdoors, a few survival items tucked in a backpack or their pockets. Items such as a whistle, a bright bandana and a bottle of water are the makings of a kids’ survival kit that will go a long way to helping them be found more quickly.
How to answer the door when home alone
Usually the best strategy is to not answer the door! Yes, the person knocking could be a burglar scoping out the neighborhood. But once the door is opened, it’s that much easier for an intruder to enter. And children are easily overpowered. Train your child to enforce home security: Keep doors and windows locked and blinds and curtains closed. Noise from a TV or radio is fine. Someone with questionable motives will think twice about entering a home if they hear noises inside, even if the house is closed up and no one answers the door.
What to do in a medical emergency
From a young age, kids can learn how to dial 911 and report an emergency, but this takes practice. Spend some time rehearsing phone calls, teaching your children to relay detailed information to an operator, follow his or her instructions, and then stay on the line until help arrives. If possible, children should also get the home ready for the arrival of EMTs by putting pets in closed areas and, if it’s nighttime, turning on both indoor and outdoor lights. Summer is an ideal time for children to take first aid and CPR classes, that are typically suitable for kids age 9 and up.
How to maintain situational awareness
When driving in the car, for instance, ask your kids to describe a building or vehicle you just passed. Teach them to pay attention to the route home by asking them to give you driving directions!
This one skill can help your child avoid many dangerous situations. The concept is simply for children to be aware of the people and events around them. Parents can help their children become more observant and aware—not by scaring them, but by playing games to teach and practice this skill.
When driving in the car, for instance, ask your kids to describe a building or vehicle you just passed. Teach them to pay attention to the route home by asking them to give you driving directions! Tell them to close their eyes and describe what someone in the room is wearing. Encourage them to check out the license plates of passing cars: Which states are they from? What is the sum of the numbers on the license plate?
Being aware of their surroundings will help them avoid predatory people and other dangerous scenarios. Simple to teach. Fun to practice. And, quite possibly, a life saver.
Lisa Bedford is the author of Survival Mom: How to Prepare Your Family for Everyday Disasters and Worst Case Scenarios and editor of www.thesurvivalmom.com blog.
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For advice on how to help keep your family safe during all sorts of emergencies, visit www.Allstate.com.
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Agreed.
definitely
Our local police force is suggesting kids actually do answer the door from within asking who it is and that Mom/Dad is busy/can’t come to the door. We have rash of knocks, and when no one answers, going to the back and breaking in.
We have twin sons which works great if they’re home alone. One answers the door while the other retrieves the firearms from the safe
hahahaha well planned, well planned
Teamwork!
LOL…..
Great idea
In Kentucky, our kids learn to play the banjo at a very early age. No burglar will enter a house where a banjo is being played.
Looseleaf! that is soooo funny!
Music soothes the savage beast
I Kentucky, by law a shotgun is included in every Banjo sale…
I just wanna hug you!! YES SIR!!! That is how it is here! WE are prepared! Thats what I thought this article was about originally, but heck naw, it ain’t. Sigh. Poor city folk.
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Kids with a good dog are never home alone. And most dogs love to answer the door.
Reliable dogs are the best first line of defence for the average homeowner. They make noise, Work for the 95% that are looking for weekness. Than there is that 5%.
Good picture of the kid using binoculars to stare at the sun.
You’re right. LOL! Talk about safety! Hahaha
Great companion
Great comment
Tools, what’s your story????? Binoculars are good for looking at the Moon, and distant animals, etc. Who in their right mind would look at the Sun with binoculars?
Jon, I’m pretty sure was being sarcastic.
I could smell the sarcasm all the way down here in Florida
funny!
Those of you who think a dog is the best line of home defense need to look up episodes of the discovery channel show called ‘it takes a theif’
Most people who let them break into their house were sure their dog would defend the home but most of the time the dog was really happy to see them, or he would throw a bone in the garage or basement and shut the door once the dog went in to retreive it.
Dogs have never been kept as a defense tool. They are kept as an early warning system. They hear the intruder long before you do. Never chastise your dog for barking at sounds outside the home. That’s how they earn their Alpo. Always have you wife feed your dog. My 110 pound Labrador/Golden Retriever was the sweetest thing on four feet unless she thought you were threatening my wife.
I have a standard poodle. He doesn’t accept treats from anyone. Not even his people. He will keep his distance from someone he doesn’t know and if it’s a large man, will stay away from him, and make even more noise. UNTIL someone in the family says it’s ok and uses a specific word. He’s always been like that.
Brian: come to my house.
3 dogs: Rottweiler, Doberman, Great Dane.
Hee-hee-hee…
A little anti-freeze and you have three beautiful, but dead dogs.
It takes 12 or so hours for a large dog to even exhibit signs of ethylene poisoning. My Rottie would have most of your body parts scattered around the house in that time.
It shows the kid facing towards the Sun with binoculars.
ALWAYS a bad idea.
I assume that Tools was being sarcastic ( as Tom said ).
Tools, that is a riot! I can’t stop laughing. So Funny.
his name was Jeffrey Dahmer…….
There is nothing that says you have to answer your door. Tell kids not to answer the door unless they are expecting someone. Same applies to the telephone. Just let it go to voicemail unless you know who is calling.
You obviously missed the lesson where thieves love to knock on doors to see if anyone answers. If they don’t answer, then they break in a empty the place of valuables.
Its Good to make your chidren aware of any and everybody I guess you guys didn’t see the story were the barista was killed by her crazy neighbor
Nonsense. Seat belts and swimming are far more essential survival skills for children than any of these.
Welcome to break in to our home. You will be able to enjoy yourself for the rest of your life. All 3 seconds of it!
Talk about lack of Survival Skills. The boy is not even close to looking as the sun. His left side and mouth are both in shadow. In this picture the is about 45 degrees to his right and about 45 degrees above the horizon.
I hope nobody’s life depends on your guys abilities to read photos.
It shows the kid facing towards the Sun with binoculars. (WRONG)
These are fine and all, but they seem to neglect most of the actual common causes of child death or injury: drowning, falls, choking, and fire. Swimming, fire drills, the Heimlich, and so on should be at the top of the list.
I agree with you 100%
Actually, Tools is quite observant. Look at the shadow cast from the binoculars. Good catch Tools.
No, he’s not. Easy way to tell if the kid is really looking at the sun through binoculars is the simple fact he is not writhing in pain on the ground from the blinding he just received by looking at the sun through binoculars. The picture clearly shows that the sun is somewhere to the childs right side.
Obviously you have a lot of training, but not much skill. Even the police you speak of (and I know a lot of them), often have a lot of training, but many have very little competence, in spite of the training. I am on the opposite end of the competence curve. At the age of 8, I could hit a running squirrel with a .22 rifle and a wild boar running at me with a Winchester 30-30.
Do I expect everyone to have the skills I had? No. But then neither should you expect people (even a child/teen) to have your lack of skills or nerves.
My kids are never lost in the woods, just as I am not. We know where we are. If they stay put, I’ll have to assume they are too injured to move. Otherwise, they are to get their butts home and are not allowed a lame excuse like being lost. What a joke.
Exactly, @rodeoclowndc. The vast majority of auto drivers in the US are licensed. But I’ll be damned if I can figure out the how and why of it after watching them actually operate a vehicle.
My kid “sitting” has saved countless man hours of S&R…Maybe your kid should play at home more? Just saying…
….or they just open the door and let them out.
PLEASE teach your children to look back when driving or hiking, or bicycling! Too many people keep looking ahead and don’t recognize the terrain or route back from where they came!
Always had one rule with my wife. “If we have to lock the front door then we are moving.”
And we did move when the time came.
Weak.
Read the objective behind the founding of the Boy Scouts then about the founder of the Girl Scouts and her circumstances prior starting that organization, including meeting the founder of the Boy Scouts.
These are nice capabilities but disorganized challenges. Organized preparations would work if exercised repeatedly to become procedure. It is magical thought to believe a one time pep talk with your kid will answer the obligation these scenarios formed. The result of systemic preparations would be situational awareness, not your instruction of watching landmarks go by on a drive.
Distraction hamper success!
I would include a fifth survival skill: learn to swim.