Posts tagged Important Things

One of the most important things for parents to teach their children is anger management . One of the most important things parents need to do is help their children understand and manage their emotions. Kids need to understand that anger is a completely normal and healthy emotion, but just like any other emotion such as happiness, love, laughter, anger needs to be managed and expressed in an appropriate fashion.

The steps in helping your children learn to manage their anger are the same as the steps for adults . In essence teaching anger management skills to children boils down to 3 steps: 1) learn to recognize their anger, 2) discover ways to stay calm and, 3) show them how to express their feelings appropriately

The first step in anger management for children is to help your children understand when anger begins. Alert them to the physical symptoms of mounting anger

Help your children learn what it feels like when they are starting to get angry:

* Anger makes you breathe faster
* Anger makes your face turn red.
Your whole body feels tight when you get angry

Anger Management Tips for Children

1. Help children calm down and refocus. Take a deep breath and count to ten. If that fails give them a back up plan to think of something they love, perhaps their pet, or something humorous. This will help them feel calmer and more focused. Teach them how to take a deep breath and count to ten. If tht doesn’t work, teach them to think of something they love, such as a pet, or something they think is funny.  Explain how this will help them feel more relaxed and see things in a different light.

2. Give them alternatives to anger.
e.g.  If a school assignment is too hard, don’t get angry; get help from a parent or teacher .

3. Sometimes children can’t put their anger into words. Give them some crayons and tell them draw a picture of whats making them angry

Show them how to express their anger in a harmless physical way
e.g.  Have a pillow fight with them
Go for a walk or a bike ride

5. Reward your child with your attention when they manage their feelings. Believe it or not, praise and just spending time with your kids has been shown to be much more powerful reinforces than gifts, money or food

Finally, tell your child that everyone (even you) gets angry. Part of being a good role model is letting your children know that you are susceptible to anger, too. Let your child know about a time when you were angry and anger management helped you successfully resolve the problem in a positive way. Following these 5 simple anger management tips will show your children how to recognize and manage their feelings in a safe and mature fashion.