Run, hide and shut up

[Lowdown3]

Run, hide and shut up.

OK, we used the words "be quiet" instead of shut up, but you get the point.

So many people talk about training their kids. You see some crazy stuff on forums or worse off on TV via Doomsday Dunskies show wherein people are trying to teach kids as young as FOUR to shoot.

I got a breaking news flash- survival is about a lot more than just shooting.

Don't get me wrong, I love to shoot, I love to train with weapons, against weapons, H2H, the whole nine.

Part of being realistic is realizing the people around you and their limitations. And YOUR limitations...

An average 8 year old, is not going to be a reliable "defender", sorry. Should they be taught weapons SAFETY? Of course. Should they be thought of as some sort of real addition to the family's defense plan at that age? No.

So what do you do with the kiddos?

RUN- HIDE- SHUT UP

First and foremost it's important to recognize that until they get to a decent size, age and level of responsibility, kids have limited use in a real fight. Didn't say useless, said "limited use."

If you've ever had an adrenaline dump after a serious fight, you get what I"m talking about. A lot of ADULTS can't handle that stress, let alone a 10 year old.

What we did from an early age is focus on the RUN-HIDE- SHUT UP concept.

RUN-

Get or keep the kiddos in shape. They have to be able to move, move relatively fast and be able to maintain that for a period of time.


HIDE-

Pretty self explanatory. Make it a game, after it becomes fun, teach stealth skills. Teach them little things like when hiding and someone is close looking for them, don't look at the person's face cause eyes attract to each other. Instead look at the person's chest or mid section. This has other uses as well but it can be crucial when hiding.

Movement normally gives people away when hiding. Still hunting, sitting with Dad or Mom in a hunting stand for long periods of time is a good teaching point as well. But this can be done just playing "frozen man" inside the house also. How long can you stay "frozen" in place? Again, games at first, then teach them the reason behind the games.

SHUT UP-

This is probably the most crucial of all. Keep a quiet house. Discipline unnecessary screaming and unwarranted loudness. No reason for screaming. "All kids scream"- BULLCRAP.
Kids do ridiculous crap like that because
1. They want attention and
2. They've realized their parents are weak and will allow it.

Nothing could be more DETRIMENTAL to your survival one day than a kid screaming for no reason. We camped one time with a family who's only "volume" setting seemed to be "SCREAM." They wouldn't walk 20 feet over to talk with each other, they YELLED OUT to each other, no matter how far away they were from each other. WTF over? You can't survive with people like that.

Keep in mind, you are ALWAYS training your kids for survival. If your a slack parent and allow freaking out and screaming for no reason (i.e, their foot is NOT in a bear trap), understand that your not going to be able to sit a 6 year old down and say "o.k. honey, the stuff has hit the fan and now you can't scream like a banshee anymore.." It's just not going to work that way. People normally don't "raise to the occasion" they usually default to their level of training in an emergency. Kids will be no different. If the "norm" is screaming, making a lot of noise, etc. than guess what, it WILL happen during an emergency.

"But Robert, you know kids have to blow off steam and they have a lot of energy and..." encourage QUIET PLAY now. Relaxation and play does NOT have to require acting like a nutjob and screaming at the top of your lungs. Quite the contrary, the ability of young children to entertain themselves for periods of time is going to be very important as well. Work on them being useful as they grow up, for early on, just focus on them being quiet so as not to give your family or group away with their noise.

They are not going to be fighters at 8 years old and you shouldn't attempt to make them that way. Their body and their psyche isn't ready for that yet.

We have a teenager that people see handling weapons and they think he's been doing that since diapers... No. We started with the above before he ever even handled TOY guns.

[xdpatriot]

For sure. I think its important to start them young but like you said, they have to have discipline. I believe discipline come FIRST. If they won't listen to you when you tell them to 'put it down', they're not gonna listen to you when weapons training. Every child is different in maturity level, same with adults. And they're definitely not a part of the security plan, as stated, to the contrary.

[rockriver]

a friend did a poor job in many areas of child raising..

but he did teach discipline and that there was a time for all out (wrestling mat/soccer field/swimming hole)
but there was a time for quiet and self control... and respect and honor and duty considering your fellow man fall right in line...

as the kid got older he attended a top well known 4 year school which emphasized honor and duty and stuff like that.... on graduation the kid rec'd the schools award for being the student that most exemplified the principles of the school.. I hear the old man about burst with pride.

[EX121]

I think this is one of the most important post ever. Well said, and very important. children should be taught to entertain themselves quietly from an early age.

[Rmplstlskn]

I am amazed at how well the children of Syria, Iraq, and other war-torn areas adapt... Or do they? Maybe it just makes them hard and cold, the next fighter when coming of age...

Children should fight at last resort before death or worse by the attacker... Otherwise, to the safe room, NOW!

Rmpl

[kappydell]

re the screaming of children....i was taught to not scream unless you wanted an adult to respond on the double, and it had BETTER be important. Or there was discipline administered. Ditto with all my playmates, simply not allowed to scream.

i taught the neighbor children in an apartment complex we lived in the same thing. Do not scream unless you need help fast. If I responded and nothing was wrong, I would NEVER respond to you again. Funny thing, those kids were as young as 5 but understood the 'no screaming' thing very well. Odder thing is that their parents overheard me telling them that and followed up accordingly. Apparently they did not even NOTICE the din. It isn't that children are 'naturally' noisy, its that their parents are lax.

Run, hide and shut up is a good thing to teach children. The only suggestion I would add is perhaps make the hiding place pre-set up to make it a little more comfortable (a sleeping bag, some applesauce squeeze packs & small flashlight, perhaps?) They might have to stay for a while, until things settle down. Add an all-clear signal so they would know to unlock the concealed door (if they had it locked) and come out, and if you could swing it maybe a wide-angle peephole so they could look out before opening up.

[610Alpha]

along the lines of screaming is the calling for help when not needed. I have been telling my kids the story about the boy who cried wolf. My daughter has a high pitched scream that we are working on and she is getting better. Wish I had a little ear piece to coach me through issues to save time.

[DIM TIM]

re the screaming of children....i was taught to not scream unless you wanted an adult to respond on the double, and it had BETTER be important. Or there was discipline administered. Ditto with all my playmates, simply not allowed to scream.

i taught the neighbor children in an apartment complex we lived in the same thing. Do not scream unless you need help fast. If I responded and nothing was wrong, I would NEVER respond to you again. Funny thing, those kids were as young as 5 but understood the 'no screaming' thing very well. Odder thing is that their parents overheard me telling them that and followed up accordingly. Apparently they did not even NOTICE the din. It isn't that children are 'naturally' noisy, its that their parents are lax.

Run, hide and shut up is a good thing to teach children. The only suggestion I would add is perhaps make the hiding place pre-set up to make it a little more comfortable (a sleeping bag, some applesauce squeeze packs & small flashlight, perhaps?) They might have to stay for a while, until things settle down. Add an all-clear signal so they would know to unlock the concealed door (if they had it locked) and come out, and if you could swing it maybe a wide-angle peephole so they could look out before opening up.

Now this is a good idea, and I'll go one better to help round out the safety factor.

I figure that most people reading this have seen the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang starring **** Van Dyke, or Waterworld starring Kevin Costner. If not check out one or the other for where the bad guys trick the kids.
Teach them to stay there and remain silent no matter what. The bad guys will try to trick them out of their hiding place if they suspect thay are close.
Children need to be taught to stay there till they are found by you or another adult they can absolutely trust, and who gives a PASSWORD for ALL CLEAR for them to come out of hiding.
Now there is still the possibility that you or another that they can trust DON'T come back for them. In that case you have to provide a safe place that they can go to for help, say maybe a trusted neighbor, friend, or another family members home nearby that they know how to get to.
They must be able to hide in their hiding spot for a few days time to be sure that the people who might be looking for them will no longer be looking, and then they must carefully go from their hiding place to that safe place as quickly as possible, and still maintain the possibility that they may have to hide again for a period of time in case they see a stranger that they do not know (possibly the bad guy's friends) or even the bad guy themself along their route to that safe place.

Even children as young as 5 years old can remember a route to someones house if they can find familiar landmarks, and possibly even as young as 3-4. I know this first hand, because when I was 5, my mother was a registered nurse that gave regular medical treatment and required injections of meds to a woman who lived over a mile from our house. One winter day she left to do this, leaving me in the care of my grandmother. I made a fuss about not being able to go, and shortly after mom left I put on my coat, hat, gloves, and boots, and slipped out without grandma knowing I had left.
I walked all the way there in freezing cold with plenty of snow on the ground as well. Needless to say my mother was quite shocked when her patient answered the door to find me standing on her front porch.
I had afternoon kindergarten class in just a short time after I got there, so mom called grandma to keep her from hysterics, and after a short DON"T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN from her as we left the poor woman's house in the car with the promise of dad's wrath later that evening, she took me strait to school with plenty of TERRIBLE THINGS COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU and a lot more of DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN.

It was a pretty straitforward and simple route to her house, but I did it from remembered landmarks, and the memory of her house the few times (maybe 2-3 as I recall) that I was with mom when she had to stop by with myself and my younger brother when she couldn't find a sitter or grandma.
If kids that young can remember song lyrics, directions to a safe house or some other safe place is not a strech of the imagination. They will often surprise you at the things they sometimes remember like this.