If you were part of our class early on, you remember a fictional story that I told where decision making and choices I made resulted in several options of what to do when there was a fire alarm. I considered the possible choices, chose the best one (take the stairs out safely) then walked over to the window and simulated jumping out. As you saw the result of not following through was a much more risky choice. (being on the 4th floor didn't help much!!) This and the "Game of Life" proved that following through is a key to decision making.
Passive- Not reacting to a situation or ignoring it. This is not a solution to a problem and may result in larger problems down the road. Ex. A bully takes your quarter and you chose not to say anything to anyone about it. This passive action results in the bully doing this every day to you and taking more.
Aggressive- Reacting to a situation with violence and/or aggressive body language/verbal language. Ex. A bully takes your money and you punch him resulting in a full blown fight.
Assertive- Taking action and trying to make for a "win win" situation. Ex. A bully takes your money. After letting them know that you don't approve of this you might say something like " If you needed money you could have asked and I would have allowed you to borrow it" then go tell a teacher if the bully does not respond to your approval.
During the "Game of Life" after the delegates came back from their meeting in the center of the room they instructed the group to throw RED or Green. Depending on the groups decision the result was a WIN-WIN, WIN-LOSE, LOSE-LOSE. There were many times when the 3 C's of decision were not followed resulting in many Passive, Aggressive, and Assertive reactions. Below is the breakdown of all three types of how someone handles a situation. Which is the best?
