Children Not Being Taught Basic Life Skills
Kevin Felts 04.03.18
Outdoor enthusiast are suppose to teach children basic skills, such as fishing, hunting, and gun safety. There are few things in life better than watching a young person catch a fish, or become proficient in firearms.
As wonderful as all of that sounds, society has let the younger generation down. Recent articles show a drastic change from one generation to another.
Believe it or not, young children are not being taught how to use a book, or even how to write until they reach school. For some children, the first time they held a pencil was when they started school.
Sounds unbelievable? Surely all children were at least given crayons and coloring books, right?
Books
Children are so hooked on iPads and smartphones that they are trying to swipe right on PAPER.
Children are so hooked on iPads and smartphones that they are trying to ‘swipe’ when given books to read, teachers say.
School staff said many pupils are so unfamiliar with books that they have no idea how to turn pages.
Instead, they assume they are used in the same manner as phones or tablet computers – and pass a finger across the page as if it were a screen.
Members of the National Union of Teachers said the disturbing development was emerging in children in nursery and reception classes.
How is a young person supposed to read a hunting manual, or a gun safety manual when they do not know how to use a book?
Just wait, it gets better.
Writing
Children struggle to hold pencils due to too much tech, doctors say.
An overuse of touchscreen phones and tablets is preventing children’s finger muscles from developing sufficiently to enable them to hold a pencil correctly, they say.
“Children are not coming into school with the hand strength and dexterity they had 10 years ago,” said Sally Payne, the head paediatric occupational therapist at the Heart of England foundation NHS Trust. “Children coming into school are being given a pencil but are increasingly not be able to hold it because they don’t have the fundamental movement skills.
Now take both those articles and combine them with this article talking about how people are not even learning how to throw a ball.
Throwing a Ball
Army Drops Hand Grenade and Land Nav. Competency From Basic Training.
Reasons cited to drop the grenade competency: People are growing up never learning how to throw. That’s right. Too many people are going into the army who never learned how to throw as a child. The Army does not have the time to teach all the adults how to properly throw.
That’s right. Some people make it all the way to adulthood never learning how to throw.
Opinion
Reading a book, writing, and throwing a ball, three core skills all children should learn, yet aren’t. How are young people supposed to learn to draw a bow, reload, or bait a hook when they have not learned fine motor skills from writing?
What about casting a rod and reel? If someone does not even know how to throw a ball, how are they supposed to cast? Whether it is throwing a ball or casting a bait, the principle is pretty much the same.
One day children will think food comes from McDonalds and water comes from the faucet. Oh wait, never mind.
Part of going to the hunting camp is leaving technology behind. Sure we have our phones, but part of hunting is getting away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. The younger generation has become so dependent on technology, they can not even use a pencil or a book.
Our young people have two drastic and opposing points of view facing them.
One teaches them to become dependent on technology.
The other teaches them to become independent by fishing, hunting, and gardening.
