Natural disasters have the potential to claim a huge number of lives every year. Our kids are no exception. When we think of protecting our children’s futures, often times our thoughts don’t go beyond their financial needs like a college fund but neglect to train them on one major thing—Emergency Preparedness for Kids.
I get it, we don’t want to think of our kids being caught up in a disaster or another major incident. Some of us suffer from Normalcy Bias and simply don’t believe something terrible could happen in our world.
As I write this, my area is experiencing a tornado outbreak. Friends are asking me what should they tell their kids who are at home or school. I was asked why am I not freaking out with regard to my kids. Don’t get me wrong, I am concerned but know they’re doing what they have to do to survive a tornado.
How do I know this, easy we have hazard alert radio at home, when it goes off they go into action. They listen to the threat and go through a well-rehearsed drill. The only thing I need to do is check-in and see if they’ve done it.
They are kids after all.
There are various benefits of training children about emergency training ahead of time. Children are the most affected in case of a catastrophe. Most of them become anxious at the time of the emergency.
Training your child ahead of time can help ease the anxiousness in a disaster situation. As an example, I checked in on my brother’s family specifically a niece who was at home by herself during the storm. My brother reports when he got home he found his little girl in the basement, in their pre-planned tornado area armed with a lantern, blanket, snacks, and doing her homework.
This kind of automatic action is why we must prepare our children for disaster. For them and our piece of mind
1-Preparing Your Children For Disaster Can Reduce Fear & Anxiety
Teaching and training children on disaster preparedness help to reduce anxiety and worries that come along with any major incident or disaster. The lessons that children get today can save their lives today or even if something goes down in the future. Children can be educated and offered easy steps with engaging activities that help them raise awareness of disaster.
2-Preparing Your Children For Disaster Can Reduce Panic
Since children are the most affected by a disaster, preparing them in advance reduces panic and helps them know how to contact themselves to remain safe. By knowing where, when and who to stay with, children can be safe in the event of an emergency. The Pillowcase Project is an education program designed for children aged 3-5 years. It is meant to teach them about personal and family disaster preparedness.
3-Preparing Your Children For Disaster Can Help Them Not Minimize The Danger
Children that have experienced natural disasters behave differently from those that have not. It helps to rid misunderstandings about disasters and become aware. Additionally, children prepping also equip children with the skills that can make them provide help in case of an emergency. Children who are well-prepared understand how to utilize the available resources to curb.
Through children prepping, you can make them calm and rational in case tragedy strikes. Their chances of survival are high when they are well prepared. Therefore, we should encourage children to prep at all costs. Disasters surround us, and we never know when they will rap. Preparing for it does not mean that it is the end of the world but coping with real-life challenges. Start prepping today.
How have you prepared your children from a possible disaster? When will you start? Do you know how to start?
The answer is simple, start where you are today! Start by checking out some of the great resources below.
Sesame Street-Let’s Get Ready
You are one of the special grown-ups with whom children feel most comfortable. This gives you a unique opportunity to help them learn about emergencies in a calm and reassuring environment. Sesame Street created the Educator Guide to help you prepare your children for emergencies with activities that can complement school safety drills. You can find an additional Community Guide. Click here To See More…
Prepping With Kids
The number one rule of prep club is “don’t talk about prep club!” It’s often difficult for children to keep secrets, but you must
either keep your prepping totally private from your young kids or emphasize the importance of keeping quiet as though your
child’s life depends on it. See More Here…
8 Smart Ways to Teach Kids about Survival and Prepping
Prepping is essential to all individuals, particularly young children. Your kid’s innocence makes them particularly susceptible in becoming victims of disasters of all sorts. Ultimately, they’ll depend on you for guidance and support to better equip them in surviving any catastrophe. Preparing your kids for natural disasters may be a challenging experience for you. Knowing what to teach your kids in advance is the key to succeeding in arming your children with the necessary survival skills. Read The Full Post Here…
Prepping With Kids? Mistakes To Avoid
Getting your kids involved with your prepping plans is tough. When they’re small, there isn’t much that they can do to be of help. When they get older, they have friends and a social life and a sense of immortality that make it hard for them to comprehend that life may change in an instant.Teaching them to prepare for disaster involves tact and patience. Here are a few common mistakes to avoid when helping your kids to prep. Read More…
Prepping With Children-Managing Expectations
So what do I mean by managing expectations? Children (and some adults) don’t do well with the unknown. They have active imaginations and will fill in the blanks with their own version of what’s coming up. Because they don’t have the life experience of adults, their imaginations can go wild with all sorts of ideas. See The Whole Article…
Additional Emergency Preparedness For Kids Resources
Caring For Children In A Disaster-CDC
Emergency Prep Kit-Sesame Street
Youth Preparedness-American Red Cross
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