PE D.E.C.I.D.E

1. Define the Problem: I borrowed my friend's phone to take a picture of my graph for science so that I could put it on my Blog. While taking the picture, I dropped her phone on the table and as I went to pick it up, I noticed a crack going from the top left of the phone all the way to the middle bottom, ruining the home button and fortunately, my friend didn't see it happen because she had gone with her advisory to the water park and would be there all day.

2. Explore the Alternatives: Either I could tell her that I cracked her phone or wait till she notices and confronts me. I could also tell her that her phone was like this when I took it and that I don't know how it happened.

3. Consider the Consequences: If I tell her the truth, I could risk losing my best friend, but if I am honest about it, she won't be as mad. If I tell her I found it this way, she might think it was either her or her sister and if she tells her mom that she broke her own phone, her mom might ground her for a long time or worse. Since my friend was at the water park, I could rush down to the phone repair shop 2 blocks away and get the phone back in the evening but I might not get it back in time. If I do, this would be a good option because my friend wouldn't even know this happened. If she tells her mom that her sister did it, her sister is going to be mad and might even fight with her. Even if I ignore it completely, my friend is going to strongly think it was me and then get mad that I didn't apologize or even tell her. I might have enough money to pay for the damage myself, but I can't just take my friend's phone and not tell her. This would connect to social wellness because I might be losing my best friend in most scenarios. It might also be spiritual wellness because the decision that I make will be based on my values.

4. Identify your values: My family and my the core values have always told me to be honest, so the best decision in this scenario would be to tell my friend the truth and accept whatever happens after that. I could offer to pay her a little bit of the damage cost. However, I don't think I'm ready to lose another friend right now. It might be good if I could go to the repair shop and ask the clerk how long it would take to get the phone back and depending on that, I could decide my action. If I just ignore the crack and don't tell her anything, I won't exactly be lying. On the other hand, if I tell her that I found it this way, she's going to get into a lot of trouble because she won't have an explanation for her parents and I'd rather her be mad at me for a while than her parents not trusting her anymore. This would also be following the value of kindness.

5. Decide and Act: As soon as science ends, I have a free period, so I could run down to the repair store then and check how long the phone would take to fix. If I can't get it back by evening, I'll put the phone in my friend's locker and I'll only tell her the truth if she confronts me.

6. Evaluate the Results: I learned that if I take the phone to the repair shop without my friend's knowledge and she comes to know, she's going to be a lot madder and if I could do it over, I would just profusely apologize and tell her the truth.