Chapter 4: Danger Awareness
Lily: "Stay on the path. See something strange? Stop, don't touch, go back, tell a grown-up!"
Some places can hide dangerous things that look like junk, toys or metal. Rangers don't need to know what those things are. They only need to know what to do.
What Rangers know
- Stay on the path. Walk only on paths that people use every day. Never take a shortcut through fields, bushes or broken places.
- The four steps: 1. Stop. Freeze where you are. 2. Don't touch. Don't pick it up, kick it, poke it, throw things at it or go closer. 3. Go back. Go back slowly and carefully, the same way you came. 4. Tell a grown-up. Say what you saw and where. Let the grown-up tell the people trained to deal with it.
- "Something strange" means anything you don't know: metal, wires, a shape in the ground, or a thing that looks out of place. When in doubt, it is strange.
- Don't mark it yourself, and don't go back to show anyone. Telling is enough.
- Warning signs. If you see signs, tape or painted stones a grown-up says mean danger, stay out.
- Broken buildings. Never go into damaged buildings or walls, and never play in rubble.
- Loud sounds far away. Go with your grown-up to the safest inside place, stay low, and stay together.
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The Ranger hunt game is camp-only. In the Scavenger Hunt game, Rangers look for pictures that a grown-up has hidden inside a safe, checked camp area. We never hunt for real objects anywhere else.
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Booms nearby. If there are loud booms close by: go inside to the strongest room, away from windows, get low, stay together and stay calm. Wait for your grown-up to say it's safe.
Ranger checklist
- ☐ I know: booms nearby means inside, away from windows, low, together.
- ☐ I can say the four steps in order.
- ☐ I stay on paths people use.
- ☐ I know "something strange" means anything I don't know.
- ☐ I don't mark it and I don't go back. I tell.
- ☐ I never go into broken buildings.
- ☐ I play the hunt game only inside camp, with pictures.
Earn your badge (Hazard Smart 🚫; the Danger Smart rows in Badge_Matrix.csv)
| Level | Requirement |
|---|---|
| ❤️ Heart | Say the rule: stay on the path; stop, don't touch, go back, tell. |
| 🥉 Bronze | Say the rule and point to the four picture icons on Card #SH01. |
| 🥈 Silver | Play "spot it from the path" with a grown-up, using pictures only, never real objects. |
| 🥇 Gold | Teach the four steps to a younger child. |
| 💎 Platinum | Only with a trained mine-risk educator, never kids alone. |
Watch and learn
- EP15 Road Treasure Hunt · Card #015 (follows Mine_Risk_Check.md)
- Scavenger Hunt pilot (Glow Jar) · Card #SH01
- Recurring segment "Stop, Don't Touch, Go Back, Tell" (every episode's safety lock)
- Planned: EP18 Stop, Don't Touch, Go Back, Tell · Stay on the Path · Broken Buildings · Booms in the Night
Grown-up note
This chapter follows the core messages of international mine-risk education (IMAS 12.10). It shows no images of real devices, and it gives children only a behaviour rule, not identification skills. Report sightings to local authorities or a mine-action organisation. Please have a mine-action reviewer sign it off (see Outreach/Mine_Risk_Review_Request.md, still a draft).