Responsible Decision-Making


The abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations.

This includes the capacities to consider ethical standards and safety concerns, and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being.


Activities to strengthen this skill

Responsible Decision-Making Strategy: The POOCH Protocol

POOCH is a process for problem-solving that can help students thoughtfully generate solutions to problems by thinking through possible options and outcomes. The steps are as follows:

  1. Identify the problem.

  2. Explore different options to solve the problem.

  3. Discuss an outcome for each option.

  4. Choose an option.

  5. Reflect on how things went.



Copy of [Make a Copy] POOCH Template