Children are the underestimated members of our society. Children years ago had much more responsibility when we were a rural nation. Farm kids would be up before sunrise milking cows, cooking breakfast for younger siblings, walking miles to school. In some cultures, there is no such classification as “teenager”. When a child reaches 12 or 13 they are considered “adults” and are expected to act as such and contribute to their society as such. Are we underestimating our youth or have the opportunities to contribute to society faded away? This past summer a tornado ripped through an Iowa boy scout camp killing 4 and injuring many, but over and over again we heard how the boys immediately jumped in to help the injured using the first aid and life-saving skills they had been taught. These were boys 13-18 years old. Maybe we need to treat our students as capable and responsible citizens and empower them with emergency preparedness skills, so they are not sitting in the hallways or gyms during a disaster as frightened victims waiting to be helped or saved (“Disaster Drills Emphasize Plans to 'Shelter' Pupils at School”), but are educated members of a survival team. Even the youngest students can learn basic first-aid and safety procedures. Don’t we already teach them things like stop, drop, and roll? I do not remember any student being fearful about catching on fire after learning this safety method of putting out clothing fires. Actually, I think the opposite is true. The more a child knows about what to do in an emergency, the less fear they have.
Deb’s Emergency Procedures presentation clearly demonstrated the need to have plans in place for disasters and the need to practice the plans. The Collinwood School fire was scary, because the major escape route was blocked and panic ensued. This scene was played out not too many years ago in a nightclub fire. A fire broke out on stage and almost all rushed to the main exit. The exit was jammed with panicked patrons and many died. After the fire, the news reported that there were other exits available to the patrons, and many more, if not all, could have been saved. How does this relate to our schools? Our fire drills happen at predictable times and rarely are exits blocked. Have you ever had a fire drill during the lunch periods? Our school has not, because it would create too much chaos and put lunch times behind schedule. Yet when would a fire most likely erupt in the cafeteria kitchen? Our practice drills could use a little creativity.
Granted, our students need adult direction and expertise to be ready for disasters, but maybe we should enable our student body to be active, educated participants in our emergency preparedness. Then, as they go out into society, they will take what they have learned in our schools into the home, church, work place, and community. We will all be the better for it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
As far as responsibilities go, it is certainly true that the children of today have less than even we did (I'm talking of being raised in late 60's to 70's). There are a number of parents who are often not responsible for themselves. Sometimes people do not think children should have much responsibility since they feel they were put under too much pressure when they were younger. After all, they are only children once. Again, it goes back to everything being in balance. As far as "days gone by", there are still families that have children that do chores, etc. and take on some responsibilities. But we do need to keep in mind that their life experiences are limited and they may not always make the wisest choices or decisions.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAre their life experiences limited due to their age or are we limiting their experiences? My own kids learned fire safety by crawling out of our house, climbing out of bedroom windows and by building fires when we go camping. Many of my students have such limited life experiences that I wonder if in today's society we are living day to day, just trying to survive, and we are content to let a generation grow-up on video games and TV. Kids need adult guidance and help in recognizing dangers, and they need to get their hands dirty and experience life. I admit I am guilty of sheltering my kids. I wouldn't let my son climb a tree, because I was afraid he would fall. How ironic since I had a hideout in a tree when I was a kid. Am I off base or do we shelter our kids more today than ever, robbing them of honest fun. I am thinking of things like playground slides. Our playground had them all removed. What about those little merry-go-rounds that were so fun to spin on until you felt like you were going to throw up? We knew our limits. Now we spend time each fall teaching our kids how to properly play on our playground. When did it become necessary to teach our children to play safely?
ReplyDeleteJenny, I truly think that we shelter our kids more. In some cases, it's because society is different now than when I was a child. We were able to roam the neighborhood, at least a little and my mom says that she was quite protective, but didn't worry so much about that safety. Now, I have a hard time letting my 9 and 7 year olds bike down the street 10 houses away! With all the media reports of kidnappings and children abuses, I just can't feel sure to let them go freely. Is it due to safety or due to my own fears?
ReplyDeleteI do believe that children may be underestimated too. I think that the expectations of children and their capabilities have lowered over the years. Thoughts?
I also agree that kids are sheltered more. Some may come from the fear of parents or the general safety of all. I'm not sure. But I do think we need to find ways for them to still learn to explore, solve problems, and get out of sticky situations. It not only gives them the self-confidence, but it builds on some skills that can only be learned by trial and error. I really think finding ways to incorporate these "life skills" is important at home and in the schools.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is a lack of responsibility in children these days and that we shelter them from harsh realities, but allow them to experience other realities with little supervision (sex on tv, violence, etc.) I agree that practicing drills do help to prepare children and are a viable way to prepare them in a true emergency...when used correctly. Jenny is right when she says that you will never see a drill during a lunch period due to the chaos. In credit to the person in charge of drills at our school, we did block a few exits this last time, and the students did make a good decision, but at the same time, it was a planned event. You can almost count on a fire drill on a 60 degree day in March. :) In the future, we need to be sure that our children can problem solve in both emergency and non-emergency situations. I guess that it is once again our responsibility as educators to see this children through this rough task.
ReplyDelete