Life Skills & Leadership: Unit 2, Session 3: Making Decisions | Page 58 of 127
Understand: Mother will be angry if Marco doesn’t come home; Friends may make fun of Marco if
he does not play with them; Marco won’t have much fun at home.
Select: Head: Mother expects Marco right away; Heart: Marco really wants to be with his friends;
Hands: Marco doesn’t get to spend time with friends very often; Hope: Marco wants to
please his mother AND have good friends.
Evaluate: How did Marco’s mother react? How understanding were his friends?
- Petri just arrived at her friend’s house. She thought just the two of them would be
together for a while so she was surprised to see so many other people – some she has
never met. It seems like it might be a fun party. There’s beer and no adults, but Petri
also saw some people with drugs.
Pause: This situation has great potential for a negative outcome, with possible substance abuse and
no adults present.
Ask: Stay at the party and have fun; Stay and avoid the drugs and alcohol; Leave the party; Ask the
friend why she invited the other people; Invite another friend at the party to go do
something else.
Understand: Possibly offending the friend; Getting into trouble or legal problems; Possible harm to
Petri’s safety; Spending the evening alone with no friends and no fun.
Select: Head: It’s an unsafe situation; Heart: Petri’s friend should have been honest about the party
at her house; Hands: It’s difficult to leave a social situation with a lot of friends present;
Hope: Getting caught or arrested has long-term consequences.
Evaluate: Petri could “test” one of her choices with another friend at the party.
- Ramone has been trying to avoid Leif, another boy in his class, for quite a while now. At
first Leif would just follow Ramone and tease him, but over time things have gotten
worse. Lately Leif has been demanding money and threatening Ramone. Today, on his
way out of the house, Ramone saw his father’s pocket knife and wondered whether he
should take it to protect himself.
Pause: What is the best way for Ramone to confront Leif?
Ask: Threaten Leif with the knife; Talk to an adult; Ask some other boys to confront Leif; Leave
quietly when Leif is in the area; Firmly tell Leif to leave him alone.
Understand: Leif could get hurt with the knife; Ramone could get hurt with the knife; Ramone
could be teased if he asks an adult or friends for help; Ramone could get in serious trouble
for having the knife.
Select: Head: Threatening or hurting Leif could be illegal; Heart: Ramone is under considerable
stress; Hands: Leif’s actions are clearly against social standards; Hope: Hurting Leif is not in
Ramone’s long-term interest.
Evaluate: Try a less threatening option and evaluate the result.
- Ephron was on his way to meet some friends after school. As he walked around the
corner, there, leaning against a tree, was a bicycle. No one was in sight. Who would
leave a bike and walk off? Maybe no one wanted it! Ephron could certainly use a bike –
or even sell it and keep the money.
