Thread by @ai6yrham

This scene from Terminator 2 in the last few years has had me thinking about how you should be preparing kids for an uncertain future (not the blowing things up and weapons, but disaster preparedness and survival skills). "Here's how to perfect your golf game" isn't gonna do it.

Stuff they should know (all Boy Scout skills, btw): 1. Basic first aid. 2. Properly using a pocket knife and hatchet 3. How to build and start a fire (safely) 4. How to cook your own meals in the wilderness over an open fire

5. Basic navigation NOT using a phone, using a map and compass and general navigation skills when you don't have either of those. Reading a map, especially.

6. Related to above, understanding terrain and its dangers; dangers of canyons/flash floods (and their urban equivalents); fire and hills and how fire behaves in terrain.

7. How to find/purify water in both the wilderness as well as in urban/disaster situations. 8. Basic disaster preparedness at home, supplies and knowledge you need in an earthquake/fire/flood/etc.

9. Understanding of edible and poisonous plants, what you can/can't eat in your area. 10. Basic knots (bowline, taut line hitch, etc.)

11. Ability to swim. Always very, very, very, important.

12. Know how to check the weather before going out (anywhere, really). weather.gov -- too many people caught unawares during weather disasters nowadays.

13. Learn and get a ham radio license, and get the whole family licensed. Have the ability to communicate even during disasters, emergencies.

14. Turn Around Don't Drown. Because people still don't heed the warnings.

15. How to improvise and build a shelter in a disaster -- got a tarp? rope? plywood? How do you keep warm and safe after a hurricane/flood/windstorm?

16. Experience hiking/walking/getting around your neighborhood -- whether urban, suburban, or rural -- without a vehicle, and enough practice/exercise to keep them in shape. Fitness really important in those disasters...

16. Staying cool and avoiding heat illness. A huge issue in recent years (just in general). Travel at night, not during the day. Stay in the shade. Drink often, know when you are hydrated/dehydrated.

Err, that should have been 17. 18. Should know how to get to a safe place (trusted neighbors/relatives/etc.) on foot or by bicycle.

19. Know how to drive, including stick shift. Lots of kids are getting to college (and beyond) without the ability to drive a car. (also, how to jumper a car, change a tire, change the oil... etc.)

20. Basic hand-to-hand self defense. Jujitsu or judo or akido or similar (not karate or any showoff sports). Real practical stuff that will get you out of a jam.

21. Human communication skills. How to talk to strangers, ask for help, interact with people WITHOUT using social media or your phone. I know, they hate talking to adults, but this is a huge, huge, huge skill in life in general (and in particular, disasters).

22. Urban foraging skills. What can you eat that is out there, growing in your neighborhood. Weeds? "landscape" plants which are really edible?

23. How to put together items for disaster preparedness, and how to use them. Because, odds are, they're going to have to use them at some point.

24. How to maintain and run a generator, change the oil, the spark plugs, safely refill gas. Clean the carb, too, probably.

25. Prepper cuckoos aside, basic firearms safety and skills. No, don't go build a basement arsenal, but at least know the basics.

26. Every skill they learn in school today about run, hide, fight in active shooter situations; applicable to any danger situation involving human beings with weapons.

27. Learn how you can rig together a solar panel, batteries, and charging stuff (phones, computers, medical equipment, what have you).

28. Situational awareness. Know what's going on, what threats are, use that in your daily life. Too many people (kids particular) go through life without any idea they're about to step into an open manhole (or get hit by a tornado).

29. Purchasing items and talking with individual sellers at a farmer's market (or flea market, etc.). Bartering and trading, negotiating prices. Anything but the self checkout line at the big box grocery store.