Making a choice
We all have choices to make every day, some of which are simple and easy to make.
Others can be harder and we may struggle to find the right answer. The most important thing to remember, when facing a more difficult decision, is that you must trust your own thoughts and feelings.
Your body will tell you when you should not be doing something, and will react to situations when you feel unsafe or uncomfortable.
If you allow your friends, or others, to pressure you into ignoring these feelings, you could regret it for a very long time. It is sometimes hard to stand up to pressure from others, but it is something that you must sometimes do.
Part of growing up is thinking about what might happen when you do something. If you think that doing something might hurt someone’s feelings, or cause them pain, then you should make the choice not to do it.
Walking away from a dangerous or criminal situation could save your life or the life of someone else.
Shoplifting
We all have things we own that we are proud of – how would you feel if someone took your favourite thing from you? A lot of people think that stealing things, such as taking things from shops, doesn’t affect anyone. This is simply not true. Helping yourself to something that doesn’t belong to you is wrong, whether it’s taking something from someone’s house or a shop.
Everyone pays the price for stealing, it means that we all have to pay more when we go shopping, and it also means that small shops can go out of business, costing people their jobs.
Stealing from shops carries a maximum penalty of 7 years in prison, not a ‘petty’ amount of punishment.
