What to Do when Your Child Gets Angry

By taking the time to consider what to do when your child gets angry, you will develop certain strategies for intervention that will keep the angry behavior from getting out of hand.

These strategies for intervention can be understood on the basis of 3 different levels, from the immediate to the long term. Each level serves a unique purpose as you approach an angry child.

Redirect Attention

The most immediate technique you can employ when your child gets angry is to redirect the child's attention. This is needed once the outburst of anger has already started.

An angry child is lost in emotion and it is necessary to redirect your child's attention to the verbal level of reasoning. You can encourage your child to explain what is wrong by using a calm tone of voice. You can even suggest different reasons for why your child is angry.

"Is it because you can't find your favorite book?"

By redirecting your child's attention away from the confusion of anger, you are giving them a new and more reasonable outlet to explain their circumstances.

Suggest a Physical Activity

Another level of intervention which is secondary to the need for immediate redirection is to suggest a physical activity when your child gets angry. This is a good idea because it helps your child learn to recognize when the feeling of anger is starting. When the child begins to recognize anger, they can start a play activity.

This level of intervention for when your child gets angry actually leans toward a more long term solution than does the simple redirection of emotion. This is because, once your child learns to associate physical activity with positive feelings, you have created an effective source of anger management.

Explain What Anger Means

Finally, the most long term strategy to use when your child gets angry is found in your own explanation of what is means to get angry. This explanation can take place once the initial angry outburst has subsided.

You can explain to your angry child that anger isn't necessarily a bad thing. Anger only needs to be expressed in appropriate ways.

By explaining what anger means from your own adult point of view, you are reinforcing problem-solving skills in your child. Solving problems is the perfect remedy for those out of control angry emotions.

In general, the ways to intervene when your child gets angry proceed from the immediate level of redirection to what is considered a long term solution that prevents further outbursts in the future.