A World of Choices

Brian discovers a “voice” within that rebukes him when he makes wrong choices; Tommy shows his friends that choosing to work hard pays off; Melodie chooses to tell her best friend that she won’t help her cheat; Jacinta, the new kid in school, chooses to tell on some boys she saw stealing; Robert chooses to keep losing his temper—and loses everyone’s respect as a result; Maria chooses to have her own way all the time, even at the cost of her best friends; and Naji chooses to overcome his poverty-stricken background and succeed in school and life. These young people and others are faced with trying situations in A World of Choices. Some of them make good choices, and some of them do not. Echoing throughout the book is the theme of responsibility—that a person’s destiny is truly in his or her own hands. Full of stories that reflect real situations children this age might be facing, A World of Choices also offers Questions for Reflection and Exercises at the end of each chapter to draw out and reinforce the lessons of the stories.

Chapter 9: The Cramers Get It Right

It’s a quiet Saturday afternoon in the community. At the Cramer house, two of the children, Bob and Al, are happily playing the latest video game. Earlier, they watched a rental movie, and later, they will go to the mall to hang out. The third Cramer child, Samantha, is packing a lunch and filling a canteen with nice, cold lemonade for herself. Soon, she’ll be off to a picnic in the park she has arranged with some of her school friends. She can hardly wait to go paddling on the park pond. She loves to dip her feet in the cool water. Such fun!

The children’s mother, Mrs. Cramer, has been, since the early hours, washing, drying, ironing, and folding the family’s laundry. Their father, Mr. Cramer, is in the front yard, mowing the long grass in the hot summer sun. He is hot, tired, and thirsty from having to work so hard on his day off.

What is wrong with this picture?

Samantha Samantha’s mother

Lesson Plan
 

Ask students if their parents would rather have a child like Stan or a child like Stephen in the following scenario.

Parent: Stan, please pick up all those games you left on the living room floor.

Stan: Okay. Sorry. I forgot I left them there.

Parent: Stephen, please pick up all those games you left on the living room floor.

Stephen: Why should I have to do it? Timmy left some of them there too, and you don’t yell at him!