If you read or watched the story of the two pilots shot down in Iran on Friday, you may have head the term S.E.R.E. Training (refers to Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) which prepares a military service person for survival, should they be shot down over enemy lines. This is a. U.S. military program that prepares high-risk personnel to survive in isolated areas, evade capture, resist exploitation and escape captivity. The military formally created this program after the Korean War to prepare individuals for the physical and psychological conditions they may encounter should they find themself in a dangers situation. over the weekend, first pilot was rescued initially but the second pilot used his training to climb into the mountains, despite wounds he sustained (which he treated himself) , hid in a crater and radioed for help. These trainings take place at a variety of our bases. They train in different terrains in unique conditions. We know an officer who teaches such training. It is intense and it can save a man or woman’s life, as it did this past weekend…
As a parent, YOU are responsible for preparing your children to handle a variety of circumstances they will encounter as they start to leave the “bubble” of your home. When your child are under your roof and in your possession, you can do a fine job protecting them, you control where they go, who they are around and who comes into your home.
Once they go to school, get a phone or they leave your care, it gets harder. The outside influences, the people they encounter or the attraction of a phone can make your job harder and possibly the values you have tried to instill, harder to ‘stick.’
So, how do you handle the outside influences and the dangers your children encounter? It starts early, with age appropriate conversations. When kids are young, you want to communicate lessons that inform but don’t frighten them. A conversation on not talking to or going with strangers can sound like,
“Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, your aunts, uncles and cousins are your family and they are not strangers. Who else would not be a stranger? Your teacher at school or your Sunday school teacher at church, maybe a close neighbor who is a parent/Mom of a neighbor friend. We only go places with people who aren’t strangers.” I would occasionally review this lesson and ask them who are people who are not strangers. From there you build your ‘training.’
Strangers aren’t the only dangers your child could encounter. Out in the yard, there are plants your child should not touch or eat. On a walk in the yard you might tell a young child, “Plants can have sharp point or ‘pickers,’ that could hurt you. We wouldn’t want to touch those. Also, there are plant we can eat, those would be fruits and vegetables but there are some plants that could be dangerous if we eat them, so lets only eat things that Mom or Dad give you and let’s not eat plants outside.“
From there, there are the other dangers, like not leaving the yard, running into the street for a ball without looking, climbing a ladder a neighbor might have left out, how to cross the street. When our kids were little, I felt that I was always talking always trying to teach little lessons. Every time we drove by the McDonald’s in Grand Blanc, I would tell my kids about the friend who left a basketball game on a Friday night, ran across the street and was hit by a car-before the McDonald’s was there. I remember seeing him at the basketball game and what he was wearing, blue jeans and a blue oxford cloth button down shirt. Talk your kids through the safety lessons in life. You cannot over prepare them. You can scare them and that’s NOT what you want to do. You want to make them aware, but you don’t want your kids to live in fear. It’s all in how you deliver the lesson and making sure that the lesson is age appropriate. The better you know your kids and their level of understanding the better teacher you become. Teach these lessons at times when you are around for any follow up questions, don’t teach them before bed when they could be fearful or have bad dreams. End with, “as your parents, we will always protect you.”
When your kids get older, let them know that they can call you when they are in an uncomfortable situation. Maybe you have a code word to be used if they text when they are at a friend’s house and they want to come home. It doesn’t have to be a dangerous situation, (but it could be). They could be tired of the friend, or tired of watching movies at a friend’s house. Maybe it’s a texted “HOME” word to you, that provokes a call to them where you say, “Olivia, our plans for the day have changed, I need to come pick you up, so be ready when I drive over to Chloe’s house, watch for me at the door when I pull in The driveway.”
Your S.E.R.E. Training as a parent will include hundreds of lesson before they arrive at age eighteen. Lessons from, “don’t go with strangers,” to “always buckle your seatbelt” to “look both ways before crossing the street” to “Stale Green Light!” As a new driver will be told when they see a green light off in the distance and eventually that light will turn yellow and you’ll need to make the decision to stop or proceed through and is it the right thing to do.” These lessons help your child build confidence and teach them to be aware of their surroundings and behavior. They may not be able to control everything that happens to them, but if something happens to them, you will have taught them how to react. Hopefully leading to…Many Great Days 🍎
