Good decision-making means pausing to weigh up the risks and benefits of a choice before acting, rather than reacting on impulse. It also means recognising the outside influences on your choices — friends, family, media and advertising all shape what feels "normal" or tempting, even when we don't notice it happening.
Example
Before agreeing to skip homework to hang out with friends, weighing it up might look like: benefit (fun now) vs risk (falling behind, disappointing yourself later) — and noticing that peer pressure is part of what's making the option feel appealing.
Key terms
Risk:
The chance of a negative outcome from a choice.
Peer influence:
The effect friends can have on your choices.
Consequence:
A result that follows from a decision.
Questions
1. Before making a big decision, it helps to:
Act immediately without thinking
Think about the risks and benefits first
Ignore all consequences
Always copy your friends
2. A 'risk' is:
A guaranteed good outcome
The chance something could go wrong
Always illegal
The same as a benefit
3. Friends can sometimes influence your decisions. This is called:
Peer influence
A statistic
A government law
A recipe
4. A 'consequence' is:
A result that follows from a choice
A type of food
A government
A sport
5. Thinking before acting is an example of:
Impulsivity
Responsible decision-making
Ignoring your friends
Breaking the law
6. Which is a benefit of thinking through a decision first?
You might avoid a bad outcome
It always takes longer for no reason
It guarantees the wrong choice
Nothing changes
7. Advertising can influence your decisions by:
Making things seem appealing or normal
Having no effect at all
Only affecting adults
Being illegal
8. A key part of good decision-making is:
Ignoring consequences
Weighing risks and benefits
Always following friends
Avoiding all choices
9. Peer influence means:
Decisions made alone
The effect friends can have on our choices
Government rules
School timetables
10. Considering long-term consequences before acting is:
Impulsivity
Responsible decision-making
Peer pressure
Risk-taking
11. Media can influence health decisions through:
Advertising and social trends
Weather reports only
Sports scores only
It has no influence
12. If a friend pressures you to do something you're unsure about, a healthy response is to:
Always say yes to avoid conflict
Pause and think about your own values and the risks
Never think about it
Do it without question
13. Weighing up 'what could go right' against 'what could go wrong' before deciding is an example of:
Ignoring consequences
Risk-benefit thinking
Peer pressure
Impulsivity
14. Long-term consequences are different from short-term ones because they:
Never matter
Happen further into the future and are easy to overlook
Always happen immediately
Don't exist
15. A friend invites you to skip a family commitment for a party. Weighing risks and benefits means considering:
Only the fun of the party
Both the fun of the party AND the impact on your family relationship
Neither option matters
Ignoring your family entirely
16. Why can peer pressure be hard to resist even when you know a choice is risky?
Because peers have no real influence
Because wanting to fit in is a strong social pull, even against your better judgement
Because risky choices are always fun
Because it's impossible to say no
17. Which best shows 'responsible decision-making' in action?
Deciding based on how you feel in the moment only
Considering risks, benefits, and how it affects others before acting
Doing whatever is easiest
Never making any decisions
18. Social media can shape health decisions by:
Having zero influence on real behaviour
Normalising certain behaviours or trends through repeated exposure
Only showing true information
Being completely separate from real life
19. A decision that feels good immediately but has negative long-term effects (like skipping study before an exam) shows the importance of:
Ignoring the future entirely
Weighing short-term appeal against long-term consequences
Only caring about the present moment
Avoiding all decisions
20. Which strategy best helps resist unwanted peer pressure?
Having a clear reason or excuse ready in advance
Never spending time with friends
Always agreeing to avoid awkwardness
Ignoring your own values
21. Why is it useful to consider 'who else is affected' by a decision, not just yourself?
It never matters who else is affected
Decisions often have consequences for family, friends or community too
Only your own feelings count
Other people are never affected by your choices
Answer key (parent copy)
1. Think about the risks and benefits first
2. The chance something could go wrong
3. Peer influence
4. A result that follows from a choice
5. Responsible decision-making
6. You might avoid a bad outcome
7. Making things seem appealing or normal
8. Weighing risks and benefits
9. The effect friends can have on our choices
10. Responsible decision-making
11. Advertising and social trends
12. Pause and think about your own values and the risks
13. Risk-benefit thinking
14. Happen further into the future and are easy to overlook
15. Both the fun of the party AND the impact on your family relationship
16. Because wanting to fit in is a strong social pull, even against your better judgement
17. Considering risks, benefits, and how it affects others before acting
18. Normalising certain behaviours or trends through repeated exposure
19. Weighing short-term appeal against long-term consequences
20. Having a clear reason or excuse ready in advance
21. Decisions often have consequences for family, friends or community too