MAKING DECISIONS: CASE STUDIES
SITUATION 1
Suzy is a very pretty girl. She has a beautiful face and beautiful hair. She is not very
happy with her body size. She weighs about fifteen pounds more than her friends. Suzy
says, “My friends are so much prettier than I am. I am so fat. I wish I could be as skinny
as they are.” She also says, “It’s not fair that you guys are so skinny and I am fat.”
When Suzy comes home from school she is starved to death. She is a picky eater. She
doesn’t like the things they serve at lunch, so she spends her lunch money in the candy
and Coke machine at school. When she gets home from school, she makes herself an
extra-large milkshake because she is so hungry.
What choices does Suzy have about weighing more than she wants? Are there different
choices that she could make about her diet to enable her to be the way she wants to be?
SITUATION 2
Fred loves clothes. His favorite activity is to go shopping at the mall and try on new
clothes. He looks forward to the day when he has a job so he can buy all the clothes he
wants.
Next week is Fred’s birthday and he will receive $75.00 for his present. He saw a pair of
jeans at the mall that were $72.00; however, he also needs new shirts, new shorts, and
some swim trunks for the summer. His $75.00 could purchase all of these things or it
could purchase the one pair of designer jeans.
All the kids at school wear these jeans. Fred states, “If only I had a pair of these jeans, I
would be popular.” How could Fred make a wise decision? What would you do?
