Parenting is a happy process Watch your children grow up and become individuals with their own values and ideals. As parents, we always tend to give the best to our children. Whatever they expect from us, their needs, their desires – everything we try to fulfill in the best possible way. However, over time, it is important to teach them the importance of being able to control their emotions, especially those that are difficult to deal with. Anger is one of those emotions that they may have trouble navigating at first. In this case, we need to teach them tips and tricks to express it in healthy ways. In a recent Instagram post, Psychologist Jazmine McCoy says we shouldn’t teach kids to suppress their emotions, we should instead teach them to control it in healthy ways.
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Common reasons for children to be aggressive:
strong emotion: With age, their brains begin to develop. In the process, they experience emotions that they are unsure of how to regulate. Therefore, they will eventually show it.
demand: Their need is not being met and they are manipulating it through aggression.
Aggression solves everything: In their previous experience, they have learned that aggression has proven effective in meeting their needs.
Attention: Aggression helps to get attention and hence they use it as a tool.
“When it comes to childhood aggression, I could write an entire book. But I hope these quick tips and insights help,” read an excerpt from her post. Jazmine notes some additional steps to help children curb their aggression. They are, as follows:
Emotion regulation: When they start to get angry, we have to deal with it calmly. Instead of getting angry at them, we should teach them how to regulate their emotions in a healthy way.
Validate their feelings: More often than ever, kids get angry because they’re trying to be heard. It’s important to validate their feelings, while redirecting it in a better direction.
Give them healthy ways: Instead of asking them to shut up or suppress their emotions, we must provide them with healthy ways and practices to release their aggression.
