Helping the Parents of an Angry Child

In this article, Mike Emlet and David Powlison argue that an angry child creates huge disruption and provocation with a family. They suggest seven basic building blocks for working with these angry children and their families. Responding to anger must include both short-term and long- term strategies. Short-term strategies handle anger in the heat of the moment; long-term strategies seek to change the behavior at a heart level, helping the child to understand unrighteous anger before God. They maintain that parents must also evaluate their own behavioral responses to their child’s anger. But as parents lean more on Jesus for their strength in the midst of battle, the more they will model Christ-like behavior for their child.