Lesson Plan: Taking Responsibility

Helping Kids Lose the Excuses and Make Better Choices

Nov 16, 2007

Help students identify how making excuses limits their choices. Instead, help them take control by taking responsibility.

It’s common for kids to try to avoid taking responsibility for their actions, especially when the outcome is a negative one. Often kids believe that if they project blame onto someone or something else, this relieves them of the need to admit a mistake, as well as the need to solve the problem. But instead, making excuses takes power away from kids because it keeps them from owning problems and finding solutions. Try this lesson plan to help your students focus on finding the power to make positive changes.

1. Discuss how we use “excuses” to try to deny responsibility for our actions and what is happening in our lives. Emphasize that we often try to project blame onto others, in an attempt to also deny our responsibility in fixing the situation. Discuss how repeatedly making these excuses can lead us to feeling helpless.

2. On the board, write the following six examples of “excuses”. Ask students to generate ideas for how these can be re-stated in a way that reflects taking responsibility for both the problem and the solution. Use the suggestions for changes listed below as a guide.

EXCUSE: It broke.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY: I broke it. How can I fix it?

EXCUSE: I can’t find it
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY: I haven’t found it yet. I need to look harder.

EXCUSE: He started it.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY: I chose to get involved in something I should have stayed out of.

EXCUSE: You made me do it.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY: I caved in to peer pressure, and I shouldn’t have.

EXCUSE: She was doing it, so I did it, too.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY: I won’t do it.

EXCUSE: I can’t do it.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY: I choose not to do it. I need help to do it.

3 Ask students to think of three “excuses” they have used recently and write each one down. When all have finished, ask them to rewrite each one. Share some of the statements and their rewrites with the class.

4. Discuss how each choice has consequences and how people are responsible for the consequences of their choices. If time allows, have students work in small groups to complete the following statements. Have students brainstorm the various consequences that different responses might bring about.

When I get angry at my friend, I
When I am picked on, I
When I can’t have my way, I
When I get in trouble, I
When my parents won’t listen to me, I

5. As a group, process the following discussion questions:

Why do we use excuses?
When you use a responsible statement, who is in control?
Tell about a time that you made an excuse to avoid a negative consequence. What happened?
Is it easier to make excuses or responsible statements? Why?
Is it better to take responsibility and accept consequences or make an excuse to avoid consequences? Why?
How can accepting responsibility help improve your schoolwork or your relationship with your friends?

You may also enjoy Peer Pressure Lesson Plan, Positive Thinking Lesson Plan, or Problem-Solving Lesson Plan.

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