5 Tips to Help Children Handle Anger
Sometimes, children can’t handle their emotions very well. This is why, in certain situations, they seem to be overreacting. As they grow older, this problem tends to disappear. However, it’s important to know how to help children handle anger in a respectful way. As a result, children will be able to deal with their emotions better.
Children can feel frustrated, resentful, angry, furious and annoyed. And, if we don’t do something, those are the moments when anger can arise. Therefore, the first thing we need to do is to get to know our children, in order to be able to prevent these situations.
Anger in children
Children express their anger in two ways. The first one relates to more internal feelings: their heart rate, adrenaline and blood pressure rise.
The second way in which children express their anger is more physical. After their tantrums, shouts and tears, they become angry and frustrated. They may raise their voice, tense their muscles and, in extreme situations, they may even hit objects and insult their most valuable toys.
So, what can we do to help them cope with their anger? If we do something for them during their childhood, it’ll be easier for them to solve these problems in the future.
Tips to help children handle anger
Remember that you should always try to handle this in a respectful way. Children don’t find it easy to understand their emotions, which is why it can be really hard for them to control their feelings.
Actually, understanding our children’s emotions and dealing with them is something we have to do from the day they’re born. If we do this, it’ll be easier for them to identify their emotions as they grow older. They’ll also have resources to handle them properly.
Keep calm
Even though they may seem really angry, you need to calm down and don’t panic. Try to be patient, so you don’t lose control of the situation. Don’t shake them or yell at them. If you do that, you’ll be having your own anger episode.
If you feel like you’re losing control of the situation, step away for a while, and come back when you feel better. Don’t be aggressive, because children will think that’s the right attitude to handle the situation.
Help them identify their anger
Once their tantrum is over, talk to them. Help them identify their anger and ask them for an explanation. Talk about their feelings and try to find a solution to their problems in a more rational way.
Teach then to react without anger
The best way to handle children’s and adults’ anger is rationalizing it. To do this, we need to be able to explain why we’re having that reaction. You can ask your children some questions:
- What’s the reason for this extreme anger?
- What solutions can we come up with next time we’ll get to face a similar situation?
- Are there any consequences when acting on anger? What about doing it in a more rational way?
To get to this point and answer these questions, you need to analyze what happened and explain that it was wrong. They have to understand their reaction was not accurate.
Help them express their anger
When children express their anger, it also helps them understand their emotion better. You can ask them to express themselves in creative ways. This way, they’ll understand what happened and what they can do to prevent it from happening again. To do this, they could draw, paint or even write about it.
Help them release tension
Finally, we’ll teach our children different ways to channel their emotions by releasing their tension. Practicing sports is a great way to release stress. It also makes them feel better through the release of endorphins.
How children handle anger
After putting these five tips about handling anger with respect into practice, your children will be better able to control these tense and stressful moments, and prevent them from leading to aggressive and even dangerous reactions.