Talking to Angry Children and Angry Teens
When I taught high school, I often found myself in a position where I had to help angry teens come up with solutions for their problems and alternatives to their behavior. That conversation was difficult to start when a student was “angry” and could not truly express how he or she felt. Parents and teachers of all grade levels are faced with how to talk to angry youth, whether angry children or angry teens more often that one might expect.
Using a Multi-ethnic Feelings Poster to Identify Emotions
Using the Moodz poster that my daugter designed to start the conversation helped me to get a better idea of how students were feeling. Once I had some insights to their feelings, I could help them better deal with issues and problem solve for the future.
Emotional IQ Requires Language for Emotions
Children need language for their emotions. When they have language for their emotions, they can identify how they felt before they got angry. Then I was able to start a conversation with an angry youth that became a productive problem solving approach for dealing with student anger. Angry youth are increasingly posing challenges for parents and teachers. Dealing with angry youth is critical for emotional health.
