I take my kids (as young as 6yo) on back packing trips with me to places like GSMNP. This obviously poses a danger to them should anything ever happen to me.
I've always taught them that we always leave an itinerary with someone that can contact authorities should we ever be late returning. I've also taught them to 'shelter-in-place' if anything ever happened to me rather than risking trying to find their way out of the woods on their own.
However, the GSMNP has bears, wild pigs, and coyote packs. After seeing a teen hiking around GSMNP with a can of bear spray, I've considered adding bear spray to my kids packs. The idea is that if something ever happened to me, they would have something more than just hiking sticks to defend themselves waiting for rescue.
Thoughts? Suggestions?