Helping Your Child Deal with Anger

In the process of parenting your child, there must be many occasions where your child displayed expressions of anger. Your child will most probably throw a tantrum while expressing his anger. There may be various reasons for his show of anger such as when not getting what he wants or not getting his way or feeling disappointed about something.

As a parent, it is beneficial for you to learn how to deal with your child’s display of anger. First, understand if he is showing unreasonable or inappropriate behavior. For example, a child who is tired or who did not get enough sleep will be more prone to this behavior.

Teach your child to manage his anger by outlining some simple rules of control such as:

  • Counting to ten slowly before talking again
  • Taking deep breaths to calm himself
  • To speak out in a soft voice instead of shouting
  • To speak politely and not to say bad or hurtful things
  • Not to hit out to hurt others or himself
  • Find alternative ways to vent his anger like punching a pillow, running in the garden, etc.

Of course you as the parent should be a good role model for your child. I know this is not easy sometimes. I have to admit that there have been times when I lost my temper and said a lot of negative words to my own kids.

Hence, you may want to adopt some strategies or ways that work positively. For example,

  • Always speaking in a soft voice
  • Always mean what you say
  • Using time-out to get some reprieve from an explosive situation

You can adopt some or all of the ideas above. Both parent and child will benefit greatly from them especially in the long run.