This document provides a scenario for a student to choose from and then guides them through a 5-step decision making process to help reach an informed decision on what to do. The scenarios involve situations where peers encourage risky behavior like underage drinking, drug use, smoking, or dangerous acts. The 5 steps are to identify the purpose and rewards/risks of the action, assess consequences and probabilities, evaluate information reliability, consider alternatives and compromises, and feel good about making a wise choice.

1. Name:
____________________________________________________________________
Read through the following 4 possible situations (scenarios2
). Choose one that you think is most relevant to your
own situation and then follow the 5 steps in the decision-making process that will help you reach a sound and
informed decision. Write your answers to the questions in the blank space provided.
Scenario:
1. You are spending the night with a friend. After the parents go to bed, your friend suggests getting some brandy
from the cupboard and seeing what it's like to get drunk. How do you decide what to do?
2. You are new to the school. A classmate you meet starts talking about using drugs. Then he asks if you want to
go over to his house and smoke some dagga. How do you decide what to do?
3. You are at a party and most of your friends are smoking. Someone says to you, “Come on, try one. It's no big
deal.” How do you decide what to do?
4. A group of neighbourhood youngsters invite you to join them in playing “chicken” in the road. How do you
decide what to do?
Scenario number:
Grade 7 | Unit 7.2 | Page 9
Unit 7.2
Learning Activity 1 | Decision Making
2 Adapted from Lions-Quest Skills for Adolescents, p. 93.
Steps Write your answers to the questions in here:
IDENTIFY THE purpose OF THE ACTION
Answer the following:
“What are my reasons for thinking about doing the
action?”
“Why do I want to do it?” or “Why don’t I want to do
it?” (the rewards)
“Why does this action matter to me?”
IDENTIFY THE RISKS, POSSIBLE
CONSEQUENCES AND PROBABILTIES
Answer the following:
“What are my chances of an outcome that benefits
not only me, but others as well?”
“What will it cost me?” (i.e. how much of my time,
energy and resources will I have to use?”

2. Grade 7 | Unit 7.2 | Page 10
What are all the possible (realistic) consequences?”
“What are the probabilities of them happening?” Think
through the various options of “What if ?” “How can I
reduce the risk of a bad outcome?”
ASSESS THE RELIABILITY OF YOUR
INFORMATION
Ask yourself:
“Is my information complete?”
“Is my information reliable?”
“What additional information do I need?”
CONSIDER COMPROMISES AND CREATE
ALTERNATIVES
Ask yourself:
“How else could I use my time, energy, resources, talents
and opportunities?”
“Can I develop other reasons for engaging in the
action?”
“By engaging in the risky behaviour, how do I
compensate (pay back) others who may be at risk as a
result of my action?”
“By not engaging in the risk behaviour, how will I
reward myself?”
ENJOY THE FEELING OF HAVING
DONE WELL
Having invested in the decision making process, enjoy
the reward of knowing you have acted wisely (even if
you can’t always fully control the outcomes!)
Write your final decision here: