Anger
gone awry has captured the attention and the terror of our country.
Angry words from a young child can strike fear in the heart of a parent
or a teacher. As always, we have a responsibility to help young children
learn to cope with their angry feelings in ways that are acceptable
and appropriate.
The
challenge for our world is to help children to recognize and accept
all of their feelings and to channel those feelings into empowered
behavioral choices. While children cannot control the flow of feelings,
they can learn to manage behaviors. Helping young children resolve
angry feelings in a healthy way will help their emotional development
at this formative age.
ChildCraft's
Anger Management Book Set was designed to help parents or teachers
guide children as they learn a wide range of behavioral options. The
early childhood literature selections bring real world situations
to life in order tobring relevance to anger in the world of the child.
The card provides developmentally geared activities that aid children
in building their own internal menu of responses to anger.
The
anger management activity guide is arranged in two parts. The first
section is designed to help children express anger in nondestructive
ways and is organized by age range. The second part helps children
resolve angry feelings constructively and suggests ways for managing
future anger. It is important for children to calm their angry feelings
before a meaningful conversation can begin. Through discussion, play
and other activities, children learn to understand anger, to feel
normal and to be empowered in dealing with the world. These are all
skills that can help children both now and later in life.
About
the Author
Sue
Polan, MA, LPC, is a child therapist who has worked with children
and families for over 20 years. Her experience has included being
clinical director of a therapeutic preschool, counseling in elementary
and middle schools and seeing children and families in a private practice
setting. She teaches various parenting classes and life skills classes
for children. She is raising her two teenage girls, to whom she owes
a lot of her education about life.
