Adolescent Anger Management Strategies For The Young Ones

by Inspiration4Living.com

When dealing with issues of anger, there are many differences between how adults manage their emotions and how adolescents do. Adolescent anger management must rely on a different set of principles.

The reasons for this are basically that adolescent minds are still evolving, still growing, as are their bodies. The cortex of the brain which is responsible for impulse and anger control is not yet fully developed until early adulthood.

Adolescent anger management strategies

Even though many adults who experience extreme anger use some of the same tools to help them cope as do adolescents, adolescent anger management is vital to helping these young people to get ahead of their anger issues and learn to cope in a more effective and mature manner.

One of the adolescent anger management strategies that have been proven effective is to have the individual settle down away from the activity that he or she has been involved in. Usually, the most effective time for this settling down period occurs at the moment when the adolescent shows their anger to others. If they are taking part in an activity that they thoroughly enjoy, then this strategy can be even more effective.

Some adults and professionals call this ‘Time Out’ therapy as it is designed to give the adolescent time to think about what he or she is doing, about what led to their anger, and how to get their emotions under control. A more effective way to think about it is as a settling down period, a moment of reflection. This time period can allow a young person to let his or her raging hormones to get out of the way of common sense and reasoning.

Counting to ten

We tend to know when our temper is growing short. As a result, we can be better able to get ahead of any anger issues that may escalate to a point in which we are lashing out physically or verbally. Teaching an adolescent to count from one to ten slowly, inhaling and exhaling between each number can help give that person the time that they might need to gain control of his or her emotions.

Adolescents tend to react to negative emotions much more rapidly than do adults. Adults may get angry quickly, but they also understand that there are consequences to acting upon that level of anger. Adolescents don’t yet have that ability to understand the consequences of immediate reaction. Having them learn to recognize the signs of becoming angry, and to then count from one to ten slowly, they are giving themselves the opportunity to step back from the situation and be able to more effectively manage their emotions.

Once they count to ten, if they are still fuming about a situation, then they can count backwards from ten to one. There is no time limit for them to be able to gain their composure.

These simple adolescent anger management strategies can form positive habits for the child that he or she can carry on into their adulthood.

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