Teaching the Basics

If you follow the ATS Survival forum (among many others, of course), then you’re probably well-versed in a wide variety of unsavory scenarios that could befall the human race if we don’t get our act together at the double-step.

If you’re like me, you have the sinking feeling that at least one, if not several, of these calamities is inevitable, and are preparing for it as much as resources may allow. Unfortunately most people—and keep in mind this generalization is based on my own “typical American” perspective—are dangerously unprepared to cope with a world in which social institutions such as monetary economics and, ultimately, state governance have collapsed.

Whether it be post-apocalyptic savagery, utopian anarchy, or anything in between, humanity is not equipped with the skills, both physical and psychological, to survive. We are now dependent, for our very lives, on institutions that have developed into instruments of our own oppression. I suppose that’s a broader topic for another thread, but the simple fact is that if the power goes out and the shelves are empty, the vast majority will not be able to function as human beings on a fundamental level. By that I mean secure and maintain, as individuals, one’s own sustenance, shelter, and overall well-being in an unaided (or natural) environment.

How many Americans can do something as simple as gutting a fish? Starting a fire? Not many. How many Americans would psychologically break down if there were suddenly no cell phones or internet? It’s bewildering, and a little depressing, to even think about that one.

With such a glaring (and potentially disastrous) deficiency in human understanding, shouldn’t basic survival skills form part of the core curriculum in any education program? I pose this question particularly to those who believe in compulsory state education, as most children in the United States receive what’s commonly known as a “public” education. I find it very interesting that while surviving in a natural (or wild) environment is one of the most important skill sets a person can have, we don’t teach it to our children in public schools (at least none that I’ve seen or even heard of).

Is this by design? Very likely, considering that “the system” derives much of its power through the dependence it fosters in those it controls. But if there is no conspiracy to keep us all under heel, then we have truly neglected our primary responsibility to the next generation—teaching them how to stay alive.

So that’s the question. Why don’t we, as a society (generally—there are lots of responsible prepper parents out there), teach our children survival skills at an early age? Back to the basics. Not reading, writing, and arithmetic, but the real basics. What wild plants are edible in your area? Do you know? Is that even important to you?

I have been saying this for years. But of course they can't seem to teach kids any if all real world skills let alone survival.
Most of what I see in the curriculum is just "filler". School is a babysitting service so parents can work a full day.
They really don't want anyone to know this stuff anyway.
It's up to parents to teach it.

reply to post by NthOther
If we move the focus away from US schools and the implied conspiracy you write about, it's more apparent that survival skills just aren't considered relevant in modern society.

Queensland, Australia has some pretty wild outback and great fishing and no bushcrafts are taught in their schools. Even Kenya (!!) don't have a policy of teaching survival or bushcraft in schools. So we have two places where such skills would be pretty useful and they aren't there at all.

Chances are, it's organisations like the Scouts, Guides, Cadets and similar that offer the best way forward for bush skills. I don't think it's a conspiracy to make people reliant on the system. It's just that schools have a certain amount of required taught hours per week and they have to cram a lot in there already.

For what it's worth, I think a lot of kids would get a lot out of learning survival skills such as setting up bivvys, fire-building and cooking.

Originally posted by AccessDenied

It's up to parents to teach it.

And that's a bigger part of the problem. Most parents don't (or can't because they're unskilled themselves) teach this stuff to their kids, so we can't reasonably expect our institutions to do it for us either. It just doesn't matter to most people. They think this system will continue in perpetuity and are totally oblivious to how dependent they really are.

That's the argument for a lot of "public" education programs--"The parents aren't going to do it, so the state must." But apparently the state doesn't feel that way in this case. Very revealing.

Originally posted by Kandinsky

It's just that schools have a certain amount of required taught hours per week and they have to cram a lot in there already.

It's simply a question of what the school chooses to focus on. What are the most important skills for children to have? I think most people would put survival pretty high on that list, but it seems to me that most programs are more concerned with molding children into good citizens than teaching raw skills of utilitarian import. What does that say about us?

Originally posted by NthOther

Originally posted by AccessDenied

It's up to parents to teach it.

And that's a bigger part of the problem. Most parents don't (or can't because they're unskilled themselves) teach this stuff to their kids, so we can't reasonably expect our institutions to do it for us either. It just doesn't matter to most people. They think this system will continue in perpetuity and are totally oblivious to how dependent they really are.

That's the argument for a lot of "public" education programs--"The parents aren't going to do it, so the state must." But apparently the state doesn't feel that way in this case. Very revealing.

I DO teach my kids myself. each one even has their own bug out bag. I don't know everything, but I have passed it on to my family what I do know. Sad thing is is that most parents wouldn't deem it a necessity to learn, let alone teach. We are too plugged in now, and far away from where we should be.