1. D ECISION M AKING

2. D ECISION MAKING STRATEGIES CAN BE USEFUL IN MANY PARTS OF YOUR LIFE Examples of decisions that you could be faced with now or in the near future:  Should I be hanging out with this person?  Should I go to college?  Do I need to study for this test?  Should I tell my friend something that I think he/she needs to know, but might hurt his/her feelings?  Should I go to this party?  Should I stick up for my friend or let him/her resolve the situation? We will have to make decisions for the rest of our lives, so it is helpful to have a strategy in place that helps us do so.

3. D ECISION M AKING S TEPS 1. Recognize that a decision needs to be made and state the problem or question 2. Make a list of options 3. Consider the positive and negative consequences of each decision 4. Evaluate the consequences and determine which of the options is most desirable 5. Choose the most desirable decision and make a plan to move forward 6. Evaluate the outcome of your decision

4. T RY OUT THE DECISION MAKING STEPS ON ONE OF THESE SCENARIOS You witness a bullying situation. One student is being picked on by 3 bigger, more aggressive students. You are standing in a crowd of people watching the situation. It is apparent that the victim is helpless and the bullies are definitely taking it too far. What is the decision to be made? You are on the verge of failing science for the year. Your final exam is coming up and you are really busy and are considering not studying for it. What is the decision to be made? You are trying to decide if you will attend a local college or a college that is far (more than a day’s travel) from home. You like both of the schools equally as well and the financial responsibility is the same for both. What is the decision that needs to be made?

5. D ISCUSSION After going through each step for the chosen scenario, were there consequences that you might not have thought of if you didn’t use the step-by- step process. Can you think of other scenarios to which the decision making process would apply?

6. W RAP UP Review of the process Recognize and state the decision that needs to be made List the options Consider the positive and negative consequences Determine which option is most desirable Make the decision and formulate a plan to execute it Evaluate the outcome Try to apply this process the next time that you are faced with a decision.