By: Leah Davies
Source: http://jamiat.org.za/
A V O I D
- Screaming at the child.
- Embarrassing the child.
- Shaming the child.
- Labeling the child.
- Threatening the child.
- Hitting the child.
- Hurting the child in any way.
- Indulging the child.
- Reinforcing inappropriate behavior by giving in to his/her outbursts.
DO
- Accept the child as a valuable human being.
- Accentuate his/her strengths.
- Acknowledge appropriate behavior.
- Provide a safe, respectful environment with clear limits.
- Follow through with meaningful consequences for aggressive acts.
- Provide a predictable day with opportunities for the child to make choices.
- Model kindness, fairness, firmness, and consistency.
- Watch the child carefully noting the antecedents to hostile behavior.
- Anticipate angry outbursts and arrange activities to reduce them.
- Understand that anger is often a reaction to feeling misunderstood, unloved, hurt or afraid.
- Assist the child in learning and using a vocabulary of feeling words.
- Listen and mirror the feelings he/she expresses.
- Facilitate communication between the child and others.
- Teach the child that anger is a natural emotion that everyone has.
- Help the child understand that it is okay to feel angry, but that it is not okay to hurt others.
- Provide a safe place for the child to calm him/herself.
- Teach the child ways to cope with angry impulses: stop and think, problem solve, sit alone, breathe deeply, tense body and relax, use play dough, count, draw, exercise, rest or read.
- Help the child meet his/her psychological needs: to feel loved, accepted, secure, recognized, and a part of a group.