How parents can help children with their anger

How parents can help children with their anger

There are 2 things parents can do to help children recognize when they are angry, which are the following:

The first thing they can do is to help understand what makes them angry which can be different for each child. You will discover there are specific things that trigger their anger.

The second thing parents can do is to talk to their children about the early warning signs of anger. There are certain things that happen when someone starts getting angry such as the heart rate increases, a person starts breathing faster, talking louder, and things like this.

Once you discuss these two things with them, then come up with solutions for each child and create a chart. For example, you can title the chart “Sam’s ways of coping with Anger” and then list ways for him to deal with his anger. Some ideas for your child could be running or kicking a ball outside, taking 3 deep breaths and counting to 10, do 20 jumping jacks, draw a picture of what is making him angry. Allow your child to think of some ideas because this will empower him and make it his own. Next time when your child starts experiencing those early warning signs discussed, you can now refer them to their “Coping with Anger” chart.

Finally, talking to your child about other emotions that they may be experiencing when they get angry can also be helpful. Show them a “feeling chart”, which people can download free from my website is great to do. This feeling chart has a variety of emotions with pictures on it. Your child can refer to this the next time they get angry and point out other emotions that they may be experiencing.

Children need help recognizing and labeling their emotions. Parents are their best role s. I encourage all parents to talk about their feelings if they are sad or mad and refer to the feeling chart too! Be expressive about it so children see their parents handling their feelings appropriately, especially anger.

Remember, research has found that it takes 21 days of daily doing a new behavior to change it. Parents need to be patient and consistent. The next time your child gets angry, point it out to them and refer them to their coping chart to deal with their anger.

Dr. Nina
“Raising Your Children Right”