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Making Good Decisions

From PTA Parenting Guide: Programs and Resources

Parents are the primary resource in helping children recover from a crisis. Schools may meet with families in small groups, provide information and serve as resources for sharing concerns and for mutual support. Some parents, however, may need individual help before they are ready to meet the needs of their children.


Adolescents have the highest proportion of seat belt nonuse (83 percent) of any age group involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes. Each year more than 1 million adolescents become pregnant; an estimated 87 percent of these pregnancies are unintended.
 
Clearly, teens and preteens are making important decisions every day. Some are as simple as what to eat; others are as complex as whether to go to college or become sexually active. Many of these decisions are made with limited knowledge or without careful thought. Often decisions are made for the wrong reasons: in order to be liked or to "prove" something or as an act of rebellion. Sometimes teens may not even be aware of how or why they make decisions.
 

Parents can help their teens learn decision-making skills and put those skills into practice. To do so parents need to explore decision making processes, their own family values, and their children's goals and interests. Parents also need to learn ways to help their children develop decision-making skills.

There are several steps to successful decision making.
1) Recognizing that a decision needs to be made
2) Gathering information to help make the decision
3) Identifying alternative decisions
4) Examining the potential outcomes of the alternatives
5) Considering how the alternatives fit with personal values and goals
6) Recognizing poor reasons, such as peer pressure, a desire to prove maturity or feelings of rebellion, for choosing certain alternatives
7) Making a decision