By Chris J Thompson
Right from childhood, it is ingrained in us not to vent our anger, especially in public. However real the cause for anger, as children we were encouraged to avoid displaying it, or risk being chastised. Sometimes, as a parent now, you deal with your angry, hostile child by getting angry yourself. At times you may even apply unreasonable punishments because of your emotional state. You are responding to anger with anger, and then feeling guilty about it later. Normally an angry child is most likely to respond negatively if you deal with him sternly.
You have surely witnessed this. The moody toddler whose uncalled-for tantrums leave her hopeless parents scrambling to pacify her; the dominating preschooler who never discovered how to share toys or get acquainted with other children or strangers socially; the brooding teen who deems any request as the world war of wills; the bully whose rage and destructive behavior make him feared, friendless, and miserably alone. Many of these children have all the comforts they require. They live in caring, loving homes, yet for some baffling reason they feel and truly believe that most of the things that happen to them are simply unjust. They start their day angry, and can explode into an all-out rage over little setbacks or imagined offenses. These are children who are so full of rage that has no apparent or distinct cause.
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