It sounds a little extreme, and I know you're just illustrating how fucked these people are, but I sincerely agree that exposure to environmental danger can be an outstanding teacher for children.

Had a great forest to explore as a kid, which provided isolation and exposure to wild animals. But the forest was also the local dump for inconvenient trash, such as refrigerators and other things that become very hazardous to climb on (local dump wanted money to take heavy trash, so obviously you save money by dumping it in the forest). No big deal, you get gouged on rusty metal, you drag your ass home for first aid - next time you don't rush around scrap metal. Kids are tough.

Best times of my life were spent exploring that during winter, as the ice would open up new paths and reduce animal encounters. Would rig up rope at various points to make climbing easier. Probably should not have drank that creek water that pipes were emptying into lol.

Just rural childhood things. You can't get the same kind of respect for nature without being exposed to nature.