Millennials Lack Basic Survival Skills

[churchmouse]

50 years ago I was getting kicked out of the house to go play outside using my imagination. Aside from climbing trees until the branches bent and playing ball in the street, we did goofy stuff like impersonating Cecil B Demille, jousting on our bikes wearing football or hockey helmets, using trash can lids for shields, and brooms for lances. Nothing anything self respecting "helicopter parent" would allow. I think we were a bit like a flock of feral parrots.
With all that came the ability to think outside the box and improvise which is at the root of survival skill.

It was a bit longer ago for me but it was basically the same. "Playing" with my friends could be fairly dangerous by todays standards.

 

[eldirector]

Speaking of "when I was a kid"

AoM put out a list of dangerous things kids should do:
23 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do | The Art of Manliness

Pretty sure I had the listed covered before I was a teen. Other than walking to school. That was 7 miles. I biked it in HS, but not before. My 7-yr-old is more than 1/2 thru the list. School is too far (still), and we need to find some RR tracks.

 

[rlfrye]

While I do not agree with much of what the younger generation says and does, this article seems like a load of crap to me. I have never started a fire by rubbing sticks together, but I am stocking up on charcoal at wally-world this week. The lighter fluid and disposable lighter have done the job fine so far for any fire I need. I do catch my own fish and can swim, but I would not want to try swimming across most lakes anymore. I dont know what a survival knot is, other than any knot the holds what I need. My wife is disabled, so if it comes down to it we will be sheltering in place, or not surviving the disaster, one of the two. So our plan revolves around that, not bugging out into the wilderness.

 

[cerebus85]

50 years ago I was getting kicked out of the house to go play outside using my imagination. Aside from climbing trees until the branches bent and playing ball in the street, we did goofy stuff like impersonating Cecil B Demille, jousting on our bikes wearing football or hockey helmets, using trash can lids for shields, and brooms for lances. Nothing anything self respecting "helicopter parent" would allow. I think we were a bit like a flock of feral parrots.
With all that came the ability to think outside the box and improvise which is at the root of survival skill.

that was 50 years ago. kids still play. i see it everyday. but what I'm trying to say is that they don't comprehend what they don't know and don't have access to. and in some cases neither do their parents. if you live in the inner city where will you actually "learn" how to swim? especially if youre lower income. where will you learn about nature unless you go to summer camp. accessibility and education are key. but you have to just accept that some will have different lifestyle choices and different avenues of life. being a millennial is bad. no generation has had as much to their fingertips as we have and what we choose to do with it and how we progess with our own kids should be the true measure of success. not the decisions that were made while we ourselves were children.

 

[tv1217]

Baby Boomers Lack Basic Child Rearing Skills



Hey look, I can do it too.

 

[woodsie57]

Baby Boomers Lack Basic Child Rearing Skills



Hey look, I can do it too.[/QUOT
That's funny stuff, there!

 

[churchmouse]

While I do not agree with much of what the younger generation says and does, this article seems like a load of crap to me. I have never started a fire by rubbing sticks together, but I am stocking up on charcoal at wally-world this week. The lighter fluid and disposable lighter have done the job fine so far for any fire I need. I do catch my own fish and can swim, but I would not want to try swimming across most lakes anymore. I dont know what a survival knot is, other than any knot the holds what I need. My wife is disabled, so if it comes down to it we will be sheltering in place, or not surviving the disaster, one of the two. So our plan revolves around that, not bugging out into the wilderness.

Load of crap. You just called me out on my entire childhood.
Yes, we tried the 2 sticks for fire thing with no success. But we tried.
Yes, I have swam across a lot of places, creeks ponds and small lakes.
I was shown a survival knot and can still screw one up in my attempts to use it.
I had a great time exploring and doing things that hovering drone parents freak out about these days.

This is in reference to those who lived and still live very sheltered lives. Where is all the angst coming from. Not just you but several.

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

Where is all the angst coming from. Not just you but several.

I think its the realization that WTSHTF most of these turds Will cause more problems than their worth .

 

[ArcadiaGP]

for the record, cause I know the INGO Millennials hate these threads, we are not (or at least I'm not) talking about all (or even most) Millennials.

I'm pretty sure, a bigger percentage of Millennials on INGO are probably better prepared than Non-INGOers. That may hold true for Non-Millennials also.

But, the percentage of Millennials that "fit the mold" seems to have taken a quantum jump.

And yes, I fault the generation before them for NOT teaching them, or for saying it should be taught in school.
I see a meme on Facebook about teaching tire changing, balancing checkbooks, etc in school, and I get mad.
That's what PARENTS are for.

Sort of skipped to the end of this thread, worked my way backwards to see where the controversy was coming from.

Technically a millennial here... and completely agree with the thread title. Not sure how anyone could disagree with it. People are being raised to be softer and more dependent, we can all see that.

If you weren't raised to be soft, good on you. If you grew out of it and became independent, good on you. There are always exceptions. I don't think any millennials should see this headline as a slight against them. If it doesn't apply to you, then you're doing life right.

 

[Alpo]

Well, I'm too old to bend over any more. So, I can't kiss my butt goodbye. I have to fight!

(Does it count if someone else kisses your butt goodbye? I don't think so.)

 

[churchmouse]

Well, I'm too old to bend over any more. So, I can't kiss my butt goodbye. I have to fight!

(Does it count if someone else kisses your butt goodbye? I don't think so.)

Depends on the costs involved.

 

[SSGSAD]

Speaking of "when I was a kid"

AoM put out a list of dangerous things kids should do:
23 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do | The Art of Manliness

Pretty sure I had the listed covered before I was a teen. Other than walking to school. That was 7 miles. I biked it in HS, but not before. My 7-yr-old is more than 1/2 thru the list. School is too far (still), and we need to find some RR tracks.

I am very surprised, that a slingshot, bow and arrow, and shoot a gun, were on the list .....

 

[SSGSAD]

More people live in cities.

Fewer people join the military.

Seems easy to figure out. But...click bait is click bait.

And, what about the Boy Scouts .....

I am willing to bet, they ain't what they were 50 years ago .....

Just sayin' .....

 

[MCgrease08]

I am very surprised, that a slingshot, bow and arrow, and shoot a gun, were on the list .....

The gentleman behind The Art of Manliness, Brett McKay, is pro firearms. He often writes about the role they have played and continue to play throughout human history and how we can/should use them as men, protectors and providers.

I straddle the line between Gen X and millennial. I have parents that taught me skills, and I am profoundly grateful for that. I will pass it on to my children. But many others did not learn, either basic life skills or survival skills.

I appreciate the Art of Manliness website and content as an excellent supplement and resourse for men, young an old. It not only offers practical advice on a range of topics, it delves deep into the philosophy and perspective of what it means to be a man, both historically and today. It's always fascinating and rarely just surface level stuff.

I encourage anyone on this board to check out Artofmanliness.com. You will find something useful, educational, funny and thought-provoking.

 

[Alpo]

Depends on the costs involved.

You're gonna pay someone to kiss your butt goodbye?

If tshtf, ain't nobody gonna be sitting there with an accounting spreadsheet. I'm followin' Clint Smith's general theorem for survival:

"If you're not shootin', you should be loadin'. If you're not loadin, you should be movin', if you're not movin', someone's gonna cut your head off and put it on a stick."

 

[IndyDave1776]

You're gonna pay someone to kiss your butt goodbye?

Either than or he could buy some kind of mechanical butt kisser, much in the same way that I have had to buy an air-powered fence post driver and build a spool to mount fence wire on the back of the tractor and unwind it by driving rather than doing all this by hand like I did prior to heart failure.

 

[CTS]

Yeah....same stupid stuff different day. If we took our parents generation and took away electricity 80% of them would be dead inside of a year.

 

[churchmouse]

You're gonna pay someone to kiss your butt goodbye?

If tshtf, ain't nobody gonna be sitting there with an accounting spreadsheet. I'm followin' Clint Smith's general theorem for survival:

I got the response I was seeking....

 

[Alpo]

I got the response I was seeking....

 

[rlfrye]

Load of crap. You just called me out on my entire childhood.
Yes, we tried the 2 sticks for fire thing with no success. But we tried.
Yes, I have swam across a lot of places, creeks ponds and small lakes.
I was shown a survival knot and can still screw one up in my attempts to use it.
I had a great time exploring and doing things that hovering drone parents freak out about these days.


This is in reference to those who lived and still live very sheltered lives. Where is all the angst coming from. Not just you but several.

MY my, I dont feel like I called anyone out on anything. But if it makes you feel better, go ahead and think that. I guess I will go back to keeping my head down and mouth shut, same as I do in real life. For me,that seems the best way to interact, lots less drama.