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Taming the Anger Monster in Children

“Do not teach your children never to be angry; teach them how to be angry”   Lyman Abbott

Children get angry – it’s normal.   There are many reasons for a child’s anger, such as underlying feelings of embarrassment, tiredness and frustration.   The goal is not to eliminate anger but to help children express it in a healthy manner.    The first step is to listen to the child, then acknowledge the negative feelings and then direct the feelings into safe and appropriate outlets.
 

Parent:   “Time to turn the TV off and get to bed.”
Child:     “Nooooo, I don’t want to and I’m not going to bed now.”
Parent:   “You don’t like when you have to turn the TV off.”
Child:      “No, I don’t!”
Parent:    “It’s frustrating to have to leave your show in the middle.  We can go up to bed and read book   – let’s see how many bunny hops it takes to get to your room.”
                 

You’ve acknowledged the feelings, listened to the child’s emphatic “No!” and then came up with a solution that may physically work out the angry feelings as well as re-direct the child to the transition to bedtime.
 

Remember anger in humans, even little ones, is a normal emotion and learning how to manage it is a skill that lasts a lifetime.
 

Claire Gawinowicz
Parenting Educator
 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 at 11:38 am and is filed under Parenting Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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