Photo by Marco Ceschi from Unsplash
Parents today have a lot of things to cope with when it comes to their children. They have to deal with their growing pains and changing emotional issues and it can be a lot for them to bear. On top of this, some parents have children with anger issues. What are some practical ways they can help their children manage this problem? How can parents cope emotionally when their child has anger management issues? Let’s examine this issue in more detail.
Create a Calm-Down Plan
When your child starts to develop some angry fits, it’s important to develop a way for them to calm down. Letting them throw things in their rooms or scream hysterically is not a good way to deal with their anger. By creating a calm-down plan for them, you are teaching them better ways to deal with their anger.
Try implementing some different techniques. Encourage your child to engage in calming activities that are beneficial for their mind. Instead of toy block games, have them do some coloring in their coloring books, draw some pictures or read a nice book. Also, when in doubt, advising them to take deep breaths is another good tactic. These laid-back activities are good ways for your child to ease their anger.
Don’t Yell at Your Child During an Outburst
The last thing you want to do is to yell or challenge your child during an outburst. This will only allow their anger problems to worsen and increase their feelings of anxiety. You don’t want this to happen. So when you’re in a serious crisis with your child, it’s best to remain calm.
If you yell back at your child while they’re in the middle of an outburst, the tension between you two will rise. This will be adding more fuel to an already explosive fire. But by waiting patiently until they calm down, you will be resisting the urge to aggressively challenge them back.
Teach Them to Deal with Their Feelings
Another way to help your child manage their anger is to teach them how to deal with their feelings. This means you must teach them how to verbalize their feelings better. A child with anger management problems is more than likely to experience fits of anger when they don’t understand their problems. That’s why it’s important for their parent to teach them how to identify their feelings.
Try different exercises that involve them learning how to identify and label feelings. You can start by labeling their feelings for them by informing them about those feelings. Tell them, “It looks like you’re feeling angry now.” Within a matter of time, your child will start to learn how to label their own emotions. These exercises teach them to feel words like angry, sad or happy. As they continue to grasp emotional words, you can also teach them bigger emotional words such as frustrated, disappointed or worried.
Avoid Giving in to Tantrums
If you want to be successful in helping your child manage their anger problem, you can’t give in to their tantrums. Limits should be set and explained when dealing with children. You must let your “yes” mean yes and your “no” mean no.
If you choose to reward your child with ice cream so that their temper tantrum goes away, this will allow their behavior problems to worsen. Giving in may look easier, but it could backfire for you in the long run. Try reasoning with your child instead. They will soon start to feel more confident about their needs eventually being met.
Raising children in this world is never easy, but raising children with anger problems is even more difficult. However, by following these four suggestions and reaching out for help, you can do well in helping a child with anger management issues. For more information on services that could help parents who have children with anger management problems, check out our Resources Page.
Wow thank you so much this is amazing info I will be using this I have a 5 yr old who is struggling with anger and I have been clueless bless you for allowing me to know you can work with it
Glad we could assist and you found our site helpful! Though we are peers and can only offer peer support; our opinions are our own. Always seek support from a professional clinician if you need help with mental health issues. We can always help with resources and peer support, though.