Kids and the various aspects of the survival minded family

Going to the shooting range with my father is one of the best memories I have growing up.
We’ve played tennis and went trekking but there was nothing like shooting.
It’s fun, done properly it’s totally harmless and helps develop skills, what’s not to like?
Most survivalist and preppers include the entire family in the preparedness plan and that’s just how it should be.
I even tell my son about the amount of children just starving to death in our country, and when we come across kids living on the streets I don’t hide what going on.
I’ve been asked “Daddy, why is that boy walking barefoot, isn’t he cold?” “Yes son, but he’s very poor and can’t afford shoes, probably doesn’t have a mom and dad like you do”
When my son refused to eat his food, I even played that video of the crying girl, just to let him see for himself what it’s like.
Throwing away food just isn’t allowed. Braking toys or failing to look after them will usually end up in that toy ending up in a bag for charity.
After that he became a very responsible little 6 year old.
Even something that a lot of people would find very questionable, I encourage my son to fight. If someone hits him first or insults him, instead of telling the teacher he’s allowed to fight. I don’t think that running to another person to take care of his problems is something we want to encourage, unless there’s no other option.
He even steps in to protect the girls in his class or smaller children from bullies, and that's something I'm very proud of.
He once knocked down an older kid with a sucker punch. The kid had been bothering his cousin. He's a brave little guy.
But a child needs to feel safe, specially at home, and this is something I'd like to talk about.
When crime becomes a serious problem, try to not discuss these things in front of the children.
We try not to watch the new when my son is around, or quickly change the channel when they are talking about some nasty crime.
The reality is bad enough, and the amount of unavoidable situations is more reality than a child should be digesting.
For example last year when my wife got mugged by children ( a bunch of kids, with a gun, the oldest one was 10 or 12) my son heard it all and kept asking about it for days. He wanted to go looking for them and kill them.
Today for example, this morning I was with my son and came across a woman that lives near by. She had been robbed by a couple kids wearing school uniforms.
The first one attacked her up front, the other hit her in the back of the head with some hard object, probably a gun.
They beat her up and stole her purse. My son heard it all, saw some of the wounds the woman still had, and that’s not good for a kid. A child should feel safe, specially at home, so avoid talking or discussing home invasions in front of them.
When these things happen, my son will usually be a bit more afraid of the dark or being alone than usual, and will crawl into our bed more.
The other day the teacher told him and the rest of the class that there’s a mosquito that will kill you (Dengue) I don’t think this was a good idea. Till this day he’s afraid of getting stung and will chase around like crazy trying to kill every mosquito he comes across. We have lots of mosquito tablets so we rarely ever see one in our house, but come on, a teacher telling 6 year old kids that they will die if a mosquito stings them? I think that was unnecessary. And I’m usually the one that gets accused of being paranoid. :)
On the other hand, I explained him well the risk of Dengue, as well as various other diseases, and why its important for him to keep his hands clean, specially when coming from the street and before eating.
He now happily washes his hands all the time and drops a few drops of anti bacterial gel that smells like mint, which he likes a lot and therefore looks forward to cleaning his hands well.
Prepare with the family, but there’s a time and age for everything. Some things are better kept aside until a child can understand them better, no need for him to grow up with fear.
Take care, and have a good night.

FerFAL