Patio Pondering: Critical Thinking, Situational Awareness, Problem Solving—Oh My!!!

We tried to teach these skills to our children through their experiences and activities. I’ll admit we were better at it with our youngest than with our older two. What can I say; experience pays.

This morning’s Little Red Barn Podcast with my friend Ryan Martin was the final log on the fire for today’s reflection, but I’ve been chewing on this for a few days. My coffee is hot and strong, the weather crisp and fall-like, and my mind is full of thoughts about how these skills seem to be fading in our world.

The first spark came last week in the pickup line at Leo High School. Situational awareness was nowhere to be found. A parent turned into the first lane of the lot to grab their child. The problem? That blocked everyone behind them, which backed traffic onto the road, which in turn blocked the lot’s exit. Eventually someone backed up to unclog the mess. Two days later, same scenario, different driver. Apparently “blackout mode” in a Yukon absolves you from paying attention.

Then today, as Ryan was scolding AI for damaging critical thinking, a mother stopped in the middle of the main road after a policeman released a line of cars. She froze, flashed her lights, and started waving me across like she was deputized as a traffic officer. The issue? Cars behind her had to lock their brakes and traffic stacked up again. She ignored both training and logic; critical thinking gave way to impulse.

Ryan’s point about AI struck me: maybe it isn’t that AI is hurting critical thinking, maybe it’s that many people never really developed those skills in the first place. We’ve stopped putting our kids in situations where they must weigh consequences, test their decisions, and see how their actions ripple into the lives around them.

If we never make kids, or ourselves, practice awareness and critical thinking, why are we surprised when those skills are missing at crunch time?