Teen Health Wellness / SEL Activity
See the connection between making responsible choices and reaching your goals. Help teens create a positive attitude about doing the right thing by phrasing tasks or choices in terms of the benefit they get from making good choices.
High School
1. Review the full teaching resources for the quote “Sometimes you need to choose to do things you don’t want to do, but at least it’s your choice”.
2. Discussion:
- Discuss with students how, as we grow up, there are plenty of responsibilities that may feel like 'have to' tasks. While this may feel like a lack of control over one's life, changing one's attitude toward responsibilities can be empowering.
Being responsible is a choice that pays you back by helping you reach goals, reduce risk, maintain positive relationships, etc. We choose to do daily tasks and to act responsibly because there is a benefit to each of us personally. Seeing the daily chores as burdens and "have tos" can feel disempowering. Seeing responsible acts as choices one makes for their own benefit is empowering.
- Discuss some of the types of tasks that can feel like “have to” tasks (homework, boring tasks at work, chores around the house, waking up early, etc.)
- Identify reasons people do these tasks or act responsibly even if it's not fun. Find the “what’s in it for me” in being responsible.
- Consider a scenario in which the student doesn’t doesn't act responsibly from the previous step. What is the impact of not doing what needs to be done?
For example: