Dealing with an angry child is never easy whether you’re a strict or soft-hearted parent...
Being a parent is never easy. Among other things, you also have to deal with an angry child. You just can’t escape that no matter what. Often, most parents are found totally unprepared for the bouts of anger by their kids, so they flounder big time. A lot of parents even don’t know what to do in situation where angry outburst happens.
Since anger is a natural expression among every age groups, it’s not a big deal if your child flies off the handle once in a while. However, if the frequency of anger outburst goes up over time, the parent must seek help or come up with certain strategy to deal with that. After all, it’s important to know how to manage a child and its shenanigans.
There is so sure-short formula that can work on every child showing anger but yes, being a parent, you should try to take the safe route of dousing the flame rather than pouring petrol on fire. If you have learned how to parent an angry child, it will definitely ensure peace in your life.
Here are some essential rules How to Deal With an Angry Child
1. Adopt a calm approach in the crisis
When a child shows anger outbursts, most parents resort to yelling back at them in the hope that the temper would come down. But this can actually worsen the situation as an angry child never likes being challenged, come what it may. Rather, adopting a calm approach can work wonders in the crisis as then the child be cool down too and his anger may also diffuse slowly. Although it’s tough to see the child go on a rampage and control your emotions, but you have to do that for the sake of giving out a positive message: that calmness can control anger.
2. Don’t reason with the child
When your child is angry, logic is the last thing that can have some effect on them. Look, little ones are not good at logic and your attempt at reasoning through things to calm them down might fall on deaf ears. Whatever you try verbally may not cut much ice on the child, so it’s always better to adopt an altogether different approach in the situation. You can wait until the child calms down, which he/she would moments later for sure, and then talk through the problem to have better impact on them.
3. Keep your emotions in check
It’s quite natural for parents to feel bad at angry child. Some react to the situation hysterically and try to handle anger with anger. Look, being a parent what you do is going to affect the child. If you show bad response and yell at the child during anger outbursts, this may lay a poor platform for future as children often pay attention to what their parents do or say. So, you should always try to be on the right side of emotions to not a bad habit pass onto the child.
4. Never ever get physical with the child
The last thing a parent should do is to get physical with their child, in any situation and for any provocation. No matter how badly you have lost it, avoid hitting the child or stay away from any fight else the matter might escalate. If you want your child to learn some good lessons in life, you then have to show the way. Mind you, aggression won’t help fight anger, love will. Plus, the child always expects their parents to be their role models and you don’t to understand that well.
5. Don’t try to isolate the child
Some parents try to isolate the child as a punishment for their bad behavior in the hope that it will work. It hardly does and, in most cases, the isolation technique even boomerangs. On the other hand, any strategy that has love at its core can help calm down the child to a great effect. Handling an angry child often poses two sets of challenges – one, of the immediate, and second, of future. Even if you want the child to calm down immediately, this should never come at the cost of compromise with future (in terms of message your actions give out).
6. Don’t take the bait by your child
Sometimes children get angry on purpose to get curry favour from their parents. Some even bait their parents in the hope that it will ultimately serve their purpose. Parents however should never take the bait and avoid giving in to the demands of their wards. If they did, this could develop into a habit which the child might try some other times as well in future. The right strategy for such cases is to stay calm and let the child calm down. Try this and it will help a lot.
7. Don’t let bad behavior pass
Anger is a natural emotion. Everyone gets angry at times, so will your child. However, parents must never let angry children cross the limit of decency or resort to bad behavior. The child has to stay within the rules of decency and if he/she every tries to break it, you better give them a consequence, preferably later once the anger calms down. Don’t let the child break the rules or go above the discipline set for the home. Else, it might pose problem in the future.
8. Say no to harsh punishments
Harsh punishments don’t work as a deterrent for angry children. Rather, they can work exactly opposite and keep the anger boiled forever. So, parents should think twice before doing anything silly in the heat of the moment. But yes, there has to some consequences for bad action of your child and it should be something of mild nature not harsh. The punishment you choose should something that works for the betterment of child rather than just to please your ego. And yes, if nothing works, you can always consult a child therapist for more practical ways for managing an angry child.
Author Bio:
Sawoni Chowdhury is an aficionado of writing. She is an expert writer and blogger and shares her views and opinions on a range of topics such as Lifestyle, Business, Entertainment and lot more.