Contents
Certain life skills will improve our daily lives. Learning to cope with bad things and situations is one of the things that many people wish to do. However, we tend to not notice certain bad things and think they are perfectly fine. One of those things is anger. Anger management is something that you much teach your kids at a young age. Therefore, we as adults and children’s role models should teach our kids anger management. In this way, our children can control their anger more when they get older.
At What Age Should We Start?
Typically, the best age to start training your child and teach them what is good or bad is when they are five or six years of age. They should have a basic comprehension of good and bad actions. They should understand what it means when something bad or good happens to them or what good or bad they do. Children at this age could get angry for several reasons. For example, they might want a toy, and you refuse to buy them one. They might want to go somewhere, but you cannot take them there at that moment. What should you do? What if they throw a tantrum and start breaking things? You should think fast and act quickly before things are taken too far.
My Child Is Angry; What Do I Do?
You should start talking to them and try to direct their attention to another fun activity. For example, you and your kid could engage in a fun game. You can play with his toys and play different roles, such as a cop, robber, pilot, or doctor. You can play a ball game with them such as soccer or basketball. You could even promise to take them to the park if they behave. If you feel that your child wants a toy that is within your budget, tell them that they should behave well so that you can buy that toy. Another fun activity you can do with your child is reading storybooks. Reading storybooks is a healthy way of improving your child’s comprehension and cognition.
Eating Out Once in a While
Children generally love going outside of the house for different reasons, whether they want to eat out, go to a park, museum, theater, or do any activity outside the house. Going to a restaurant occasionally is an excellent strategy to control your child’s anger. Set a specific day that you intend to go to a restaurant, and tell your kid that you would go there only if they behave and do not get angry. This will condition them to always remember that day and not misbehave. Eventually, kids will learn that they must not get angry if they want to have fun and go out of the house.
The Islamic Approach
As kids get older and understand things more, such as the existence of God as our creator and sustainer, teaching them anger management becomes easier. You should teach them that suppressing one’s anger is a Godly act. It is something we should all try to do no matter our age. The Quran describes the pious by saying:
ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِى ٱلسَّرَّآءِ وَٱلضَّرَّآءِ وَٱلْكَٰظِمِينَ ٱلْغَيْظَ وَٱلْعَافِينَ عَنِ ٱلنَّاسِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
[The pious are] those who spend in ease and adversity, and suppress their anger, and excuse [the faults of] the people, and Allah loves the virtuous. (3:134, Translation by Qarai)
Everyone gets angry occasionally. However, suppressing one’s anger is what is precious in Allah’s view. The pious are those who forgive and excuse the faults of people. In other words, instead of getting angry at someone, they forgive them. You should teach this to your child. Suppose another kid comes to your house and rides your child’s bicycle without his permission. Your child might get angry with him. However, in such situations, you should tell your child not to get angry and instead forgive that kid.
Conclusion
Anger management is not only something we ourselves should practice but something we should also teach our kids. One way of controlling your child’s anger at an early age is to direct their attention to another fun activity. You can also take them out to the park, restaurant, theater, museum, and teach them about Islam and the Quran. Kids should learn to suppress their anger and excuse others’ faults. Islam4u and Qurankids.co are happy to present your kids with a beautiful course called Quran Kids that teaches many life skills including anger management. This app is ready for download.
