Responsible Decision Making – Grade 8 – Lesson 2
Objectives:
- Students will identify potential scenarios where they may need to make important decisions, particularly in relationships.
- Students will distinguish between feelings and interests in decision-making situations.
- Students will apply decision-making skills to common relationship scenarios.
Materials:
- Strips of paper for student questions
- Box or similar item to collect student questions
- Decision-Making Model (displayed)
Introduction:
Begin by discussing why decision-making can sometimes be challenging. Present three brief scenarios and ask the students, “What will you do?” for each one:
Scenarios
- Your friend/sibling/parent has been drinking at a party and wants to drive you home.
What will you do?
- You visit a friend’s home, and they offer you beer from the refrigerator, but you’re unsure about drinking alcohol.
What will you do?
- At a party, everyone is passing around a joint, and you’re expected to try it, but you don’t want to smoke marijuana.
What will you do?
After presenting the scenarios mentioned above, distribute quarter sheets of paper to the students and instruct them to write down a problem they believe a student their age might encounter. Encourage them to be creative and thoughtful in their scenario creation. Once they have written their scenarios, pass around the box and have each student drop their paper into it, adding their unique scenarios to the collection.
Activity 1: Interests and Feelings
Display the Decision-Making Model and explain to students the importance of considering their interests and feelings as well as those of others.
Discuss the difference between interests and feelings and explore the concept of looking out for one’s interests and being in tune with one’s feelings to aid in decision-making.
- Explore the distinction between interests and feelings.
- Discuss the significance of looking out for one’s interests.
- Examine how being in tune with one’s feelings can aid in decision-making.
Remind students that brainstorming, creating pros and cons lists, and seeking advice are helpful methods to generate alternatives and assess potential benefits and risks of a decision. Emphasize the value of projecting possible outcomes to make informed choices, especially when navigating relationships where friendship or bonds might be at stake.
Select a problem/scenario from Pandora’s box, read it aloud, and have students in pairs brainstorm possible solutions. Write or display the problem.
What would you do? What do you think is the most helpful solution?
Encourage volunteers to share their responses, and write potential solutions on a visual display under the problem.
Allow students to vote on the best solution and address one problem from the box at a time, discussing resolutions or potential actions.
You can choose one or more problems to discuss during this session as time permits. Other problems in the box can be kept and discussed periodically over the course of the next few months to review skills taught in the lesson.
Activity 2: Practice Scenarios
Display additional problems to practice decision-making skills. This can be done as a whole class or in small groups, with each group sharing their solutions to the dilemmas.
Decision-Making Practice Scenarios:
Scenario 1: A popular group of students is harassing a particular student every day after school. You don’t think it’s fair. How can you help?
Scenario 2: Your friend’s father is often drunk and abusive. How can you support your friend?
Closing:
- Engage in a class discussion to assess when students prioritize their interests or protect their feelings in decision-making.
- Explore situations when it might be acceptable to make a decision that isn’t necessarily in their best interest and discuss the potential benefits of considering the interests and feelings of others before making decisions, especially in relationship contexts.
Lesson adapted from: Missouri Department of Education