While scanning through Facebook this morning I came across a blog post that was shared from Modern Homesteaders, Five Things Every 12 Year Old Should Know.  The first point made me think about my 15 year old son and his lack of knowing where he is.  I can get him in the car drive 1 mile, let him out and tell him to walk home, and I’m sure the response would be “Which way do I go?”.  He has his eyes glued to his phone or he is flapping his gums and not paying attention.  What about giving him or one of my older two a map and have them find their way somewhere.  Their response would be to pull out their phone and go to their GPS app.  Yes I’ve been guilty of using my phone GPS too but I know how to read a map!  I feel as though I have really done my children a disservice by not making sure they know these simple little things.

The other four items in the post we have covered for the most part but they can use some work.  Item 2, basic first aid, they know how to take care of cuts, scrapes, sprains, and the like, but would they know how to contact someone if they didn’t have their handy dandy smart phone?  I was very skeptical on this one so I asked all three of them “What is your grandma’s phone number”…yep you guessed it…they each pulled out their phone.  UGH!  They all know about 911 so getting emergency services isn’t a problem.  I think however I will follow the advise given in the post to role play injuries.

 

The last three items they’ve got down.  They all three know how to cook, they all three know how to handle weapons and know basic self defense and they can swim.  These areas I’ve very comfortable with their knowledge and skills.

How do your children stack up?  Can they find their way home, perform basic first aid, get/cook food, defend themselves and swim?  At the end of the day these are basic things that they need to know just in case of a event like Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Ike, a major earthquake or any emergency situation.