Should self preservation be a part of a public school graduation requirement?

[coachdb18]

Not that many years ago, kids learned about self preservation by the fact that their survival depended upon it. When our country was becoming a nation, the frontier life was common, and defense against weather events, wild animals, indians and each other was unquestioned, as were the skills needed to hunt, fish and grow crops. Those who moved across the country knew how to and depended upon living off the land.

What we don't seem to accept or understand any more, is that we are still subject to the laws of nature, and survival and self preservation are no less important now. All it takes is one severe storm, a wrong turn leading to being stranded with a broken down vehicle, or a bear in the neighborhood to be reminded of your mortality, if unprepared, of your lack of survival skills. We now know more acutely than before that even a trip to a movie can require survival skills.

Shouldn't it be a basic requirement that our kids know how to grow a garden, shoot and skin a rabbit, what plants are edible in the woods, and how to start a campfire and set up a shelter out of nothing but natures resources basic needs?

 

[RobDownSouth]

Ah, the endurin' myth of "rugged individualism".

 

[RoryN]

Sounds like you want to start a program for kids to teach them self-preservation.

I give it about an 80%-90% chance that you'd molest them.

 

[KingOrfeo]

Shouldn't it be a basic requirement that our kids know how to grow a garden, shoot and skin a rabbit, what plants are edible in the woods, and how to start a campfire and set up a shelter out of nothing but natures resources basic needs?

No. They are far more likely, later in life, to need to do long division than any of that. You have to spend money to get a chance to do any of those things nowadays.

 

[coachdb18]

Our children are illiterate when it comes to surviving, and totally unaware of the natural world around them. While many will give lip service to 'saving the planet', most have no idea what is on it, how to survive in it, and have any hands on appreciation for it. Awareness of the natural world is now mocked, and the introduction of 'My Two Daddies' has now taken precedence to the skills to appreciate and survive in the real world that exists beyond the concrete and sheetrock.

http://wildernesssurvivalstories.com/

 

[bra_man69]

More copy and paste
Do you even read the shit you copy & paste
90 percent is different then what you say.

 

[KRCummings]

Join the Scouts.

 

[Colonel Hogan]

The secret to survival in the world today is to have a fully charged cell phone and a credit card that's not maxed out.

 

[KRCummings]

The secret to survival in the world today is to have a fully charged cell phone and a credit card that's not maxed out.

That about covers it.

 

[coachdb18]

The secret to survival in the world today is to have a fully charged cell phone and a credit card that's not maxed out.

Next black bear I meet in the woods, I'll ask him to hold while I check his Facebook page....see if he takes Visa, will you? Shit like that worked well for the folks on the rooftops after Katrina with the 'Hep me, pleeze, I's stahvin' signs for the Coast Guard helicopters to show on the news reports

 

[Colonel Hogan]

Next black bear I meet in the woods, I'll ask him to hold while I check his Facebook page....see if he takes Visa, will you? Shit like that worked well for the folks on the rooftops after Katrina with the 'Hep me, pleeze, I's stahvin' signs for the Coast Guard helicopters to show on the news reports

Pull your head out, dude. We've long ago subjugated Native Americans and wiped the Great Plains clean of buffalo herds. Yes, people who venture into what is left of "the wild" would be smart if they educated themselves on various survival skills should their support systems and equipment go wrong.

But the closest most people are ever going to come to seeing a black bear in the woods are squirrels and pigeons in a public park. That's their choice. The odds that they are ever going to benefit from knowing how to dissect the family dog into strips of "spaniel jerky" are beyond remote.

People who ended up on their rooftops during hurricane Katrina were those who were too stupid to adhere to the first rule of urban survival within metropolitan coastal areas in the path of an oncoming hurricane: "Get your fucking dumb ass the hell out of town within the next 48 hours."

Here's another survival tip: If they are not smart enough to follow government evacuation orders, the last thing I want to do is be standing anywhere near these idiots if they should try to build a campfire.

I bet you're one of these guys who has a hole dug in a secret rural location stocked with canned goods and a small arsenal of weapons in anticipation of Armageddon. Trust me. At some point you will run out of food and ammunition and find yourself unable to buy more.

At that point, you will forage for berries with the rest of the Bear Grylls fan club and most likely die six months to a year later than those of us who were "unprepared."

I hope that extra time you manage to squeeze out of the inevitable will have been filled with joy and laughter with friends and family as you celebrate the euphoria of knowing that you have beaten the worst odds and can proudly claim to have been among the very last people on the face of the earth.

Bon appetit.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Next black bear I meet in the woods, I'll ask him to hold while I check his Facebook page....see if he takes Visa, will you? Shit like that worked well for the folks on the rooftops after Katrina with the 'Hep me, pleeze, I's stahvin' signs for the Coast Guard helicopters to show on the news reports

Youre correct. Bout 20 years ago we drove to North Florida to fetch my youngest daughter home. Her camp was back of beyond, ten miles from any hard road, and bout 30 miles from the nearest town. And its late at nite.

When we reached the hard road the manifold gasket on the car went. So I told the gang to hang on we're gwine to town on a wing and a prayer. We made it to town but the engine was shot. So I got some cash from the ATM and called a pal in Jacksonville to come get us, please (no bus or taxi service). We spent the night at his house and took a bus to Tampa the next morning.

I told my daughter to pay attention to the lesson. Make good friends you can count on. Keep some money in the bank. And get as close to civilization as you can before you abandon ship. AAA will get your car but not you.

 

[coachdb18]

Pull your head out, dude. We've long ago subjugated Native Americans and wiped the Great Plains clean of buffalo herds. Yes, people who venture into what is left of "the wild" would be smart if they educated themselves on various survival skills should their support systems and equipment go wrong.

But the closest most people are ever going to come to seeing a black bear in the woods are squirrels and pigeons in a public park. That's their choice. The odds that they are ever going to benefit from knowing how to dissect the family dog into strips of "spaniel jerky" are beyond remote.

People who ended up on their rooftops during hurricane Katrina were those who were too stupid to adhere to the first rule of urban survival within metropolitan coastal areas in the path of an oncoming hurricane: "Get your fucking dumb ass the hell out of town within the next 48 hours."

Here's another survival tip: If they are not smart enough to follow government evacuation orders, the last thing I want to do is be standing anywhere near these idiots if they should try to build a campfire.

I bet you're one of these guys who has a hole dug in a secret rural location stocked with canned goods and a small arsenal of weapons in anticipation of Armageddon. Trust me. At some point you will run out of food and ammunition and find yourself unable to buy more.

At that point, you will forage for berries with the rest of the Bear Grylls fan club and most likely die six months to a year later than those of us who were "unprepared."

I hope that extra time you manage to squeeze out of the inevitable will have been filled with joy and laughter with friends and family as you celebrate the euphoria of knowing that you have beaten the worst odds and can proudly claim to have been among the very last people on the face of the earth.

Bon appetit.

Of note, a good many of the purchasers of firearms are buying them for self protection from those who, in the case of another Katrina, have to rely on looting and armed robbery of those goods and skills others possess they were too lazy to acquire. They end up with an AR15 round in their face, I told you so...

 

[RobDownSouth]

Of note, a good many of the purchasers of firearms are buying them for self protection from those who, in the case of another Katrina, have to rely on looting and armed robbery of those goods and skills others possess they were too lazy to acquire. They end up with an AR15 round in their face, I told you so...

I've noticed Mensa Boy has taken to advocatin' violence as teh preferred solution to all the world's ills.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Of note, a good many of the purchasers of firearms are buying them for self protection from those who, in the case of another Katrina, have to rely on looting and armed robbery of those goods and skills others possess they were too lazy to acquire. They end up with an AR15 round in their face, I told you so...

Ah, feral Demokkkrats out grazing on the commonwealth.

 

[badbabysitter]

I've noticed Mensa Boy has taken to advocatin' violence as teh preferred solution to all the world's ills.

It's the civil thing to do

 

[hobbit.]

Not that many years ago, kids learned about self preservation by the fact that their survival depended upon it. When our country was becoming a nation, the frontier life was common, and defense against weather events, wild animals, indians and each other was unquestioned, as were the skills needed to hunt, fish and grow crops. Those who moved across the country knew how to and depended upon living off the land.

What we don't seem to accept or understand any more, is that we are still subject to the laws of nature, and survival and self preservation are no less important now. All it takes is one severe storm, a wrong turn leading to being stranded with a broken down vehicle, or a bear in the neighborhood to be reminded of your mortality, if unprepared, of your lack of survival skills. We now know more acutely than before that even a trip to a movie can require survival skills.

Shouldn't it be a basic requirement that our kids know how to grow a garden, shoot and skin a rabbit, what plants are edible in the woods, and how to start a campfire and set up a shelter out of nothing but natures resources basic needs?

in short, NO! do the american thing.. buy a gun and force someone else to do it for you.

 

[jeninflorida]

Interesting, but lets take a look at how many people believe in socialism ... and that entitlements is the solution. Who would teach "self preservation" as 99.991% of college professors are socialist and believe in the "state" and not the individual

 

[Sean Renaud]

I suppose we could teach survival, it's a waste of time but we need jobs.

 

[AnAmericanDarling]

No, self-preservation should not be part of a public school graduation requirement - it would be a waste of time! Very few people would use these skills or even need them, so there would be no point in learning them. If parents want to teach their kids this stuff, then I say have at it, but don't waste classroom time - God knows teachers waste enough time popping in videos.

 

[HAL_9000]

Better idea: mandatory visit to the local jail. the county morgue, and maybe the cancer ward at the hospital to graduate.

You'd at least cut back on smoking / drugs , crime, and violence.

 

[doctor_insanus]

Join the Scouts.

It is the gayest gay-hating club in the country. He'd fit right in.