Daniel Calder St. Petersburg Sustainable Living Examiner
This writer was fortunate enough to have been granted an exclusive interview with Julie L. Casey, author of the novel How I Became a Teenage Survivalist. Julie's interest in the topic of survivalism dates back to her childhood: "Even as a child, my games were always about living as they did in olden times, either as a pioneer or a Native American. As an adult, I've often daydreamed about how we would live if life was less modern, but I never thought of it in terms of a post-apocalyptic, survivalist situation until I wrote How I Became a Teenage Survivalist"(Casey). She likewise believes that children would benefit from legitimate survivalist knowledge beyond mere games:
I believe all children would benefit from knowing several of those skills, and homeschooling is a great environment to learn them. However, at my husband's small school (he's a public school science teacher), the 8th grade English class read HIBATS the last week of school, and then went on a 24-hour survivalist campout where they learned many survival skills, like making a rocket stove, foraging for a wild salad, and fishing for their supper. My husband, our homeschooled sons, and I got to go along and share our knowledge with them. It was an awesome experience. I am now working on a curriculum to go along with the book that would allow teachers, parents, librarians, book clubs, and anyone else who is interested to try some survival skills at a level that is appropriate for their situations(Casey).
I believe all children would benefit from knowing several of those skills, and homeschooling is a great environment to learn them. However, at my husband's small school (he's a public school science teacher), the 8th grade English class read HIBATS the last week of school, and then went on a 24-hour survivalist campout where they learned many survival skills, like making a rocket stove, foraging for a wild salad, and fishing for their supper. My husband, our homeschooled sons, and I got to go along and share our knowledge with them. It was an awesome experience. I am now working on a curriculum to go along with the book that would allow teachers, parents, librarians, book clubs, and anyone else who is interested to try some survival skills at a level that is appropriate for their situations(Casey).