Lesson 1a2: "Responsibility: Tired Tim"

Choice is first defined as options or alternatives and is always framed within a contextual situation. The act of choosing necessarily implies decision-making, and the simple result, a choice, reflects the selection among one or more possibilities generated either internally or externally.

Tired Tim

Written by S.M. Reynolds

Tim had played hard all day, Riding his bike with his best friend Clay. Up and down the hills he had sped, With the winds blowing through the hairs on his head.

Now it was late and dinner was done. Mom and Dad said "It's time for bed, son". So down the hall he started to walk, Tim was so tired he could hardly talk.

He brushed his teeth and washed his face, Then went to his bedroom, a really neat place. His toys were lined up against the wall, The big blue airplane his favorite of all.

Maybe I will play for a while with my plane, And pretend I'm a pilot flying high over Spain. But Tim thought, "I'll do what my parents said" And he pulled open the covers and crawled into bed!

Lesson 1b1 "Safety: The Broken Cup"

The choice options are differentiated by distinct labels, or distinctions, that represent the most important (un)desirable quality and requires assigning each quality a positive or negative valence as a consequence (whether in their opinion it is a positive or negative).

Lesson 2b7 "Safety: A Gun Under The Bed"

Consequences are defined as the short-term or immediate results of the choice options. The consequences for any choice option can be obtained by asking the child questions like "What bad thing could happen when you play with a gun?" or "What is good about deciding to not play with the gun?"

Lesson 4a1 "Parental Relationship: Champagne At The Wedding"

Where consequences are basically short-term, outcomes are the longer-term implications or results of the choice options made. Elicitation of these from the child follows naturally in the questioning process from the consequences.

Lesson 5a2 "Honesty: About Amber's Afternoon"

Goals are desired end-states toward which effort is directed; that serve as the basis by which one assesses the degree to which a choice option is beneficial. Discussing goals offers a real springboard for discussion, which provides a significant learning experience for the class.

Lesson 6a24 "Responsibility: Inside The Garage"

Driving force is defined as the key "motivator of self" which determines the relative importance to desired states or goals.

self is defined as each person's unique way of seeing him or herself. This perception is frequently drawn from three perspectives which may be situation dependent; namely, (1) how I see myself, (2) how I would like to be seen by others, or (3) how I would like to see myself.