KIDS’ PAGE

By Colleen McDonald      

Problem Solving with SODAS        November 10, 1999

Last month I read a book about how parents can help their children or teens handle their anger.  One idea is teach youngsters a problem-solving process called SODAS.  Here’s how it works:

The first S in SODAS stands for Situation.  In other words, what is the problem?  One example of a problem that occurs in families is brothers and sisters fighting over what to watch on TV.

The O in SODAS stands for Options, meaning the choices you have for solving the problem.  Come up with as many different ideas as you can think of.  How could you solve the TV problem?  Here are a few ideas: 1) You could spend your time doing something besides watching TV.  2) You could take turns picking what to watch.  3) You could ask your mom or dad to flip a coin when you have a disagreement about what to watch.  4) You could ask another family member to pick the shows.  What other solutions can you come up with?

The DA in SODAS stands for Disadvantages/Advantages.  Go back to your solutions and consider what you like and don’t like about each one.  One Disadvantage about giving up TV (Solution #1) is that you would miss doing something you enjoy.  One Advantage would be that you might find better things to do with your time (like reading, playing outdoors, or helping more around the house), and that would make your folks happy.

The last S in SODAS is for Solution.  Which one will you pick?  If you decide you and your brother or sister will take turns picking programs, you will need to figure out how to do this.  Maybe you will each choose 1 program every day.  Or one of you might get to decide on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, while the other gets Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays; Monday the TV stays off, while you get ahead on your homework.

If you think the SODAS process is a good idea for you or your family, I hope you will try it out, and then let me know how it works.

Love, Colleen