Sometimes people will get very angry, and when that happens it is important to get underneath that anger. I remember working with a child once who was very angry. I took him aside, and asked him, "If you were the teacher and you had a student like you, what would you do?" As the boy answered my question, it was clear where his anger came from. Once revealed, the teachers and parents were able to work together to diffuse that anger for the better.
I had a lot of anger as a young woman. I thought and read a lot about this. The anger derived from multiple experiences. First, I was a bit different from the mainstream as a child, and I didn't have the chance to process that. This lack of processing resulted in some anger. Next, I was a girl in a boys' world--so often, I was asked to comply rather than get involved, share my ideas, and be who I was. I'm sure some of the anger came from that, and I was attuned to injustice from an early age, and sometimes that injustice hit me like a rock, angering me.
If I could coach myself as a child, I would have given me more time to process what I was noticing, feeling and experiencing. Children need to be able to process, and some children need more of this than others. Also, I would have discussed the injustice I felt with me and helped me find ways to gain power in the face of injustice. Further, I would have truly listened to me and helped me to find my way via my passions and interests rather than direct me along long-held roles and values for girls at the time.
As a teacher, I became angry sometimes. Usually that anger was rooted in oppression and injustice--the injustice related to roles and the institution of school got to me at times and angered me. I wish I had more skill and tools to work with that in more peaceful ways in the past. I wish had greater support by way of leadership to hone good, peaceful skill and advocacy in the face of oppression. Eventually I did gain greater support by way of colleagues, the union and some outside support. That was good.
What I learned is that if people are angry, try to figure out where that anger is coming from and how you can help. Provide angry people with good tools and also let them know worst case scenarios so they can steer clear of that. Help people to translate the energy that anger creates into positive energy that makes good change and does good work.
For angry ones who are young, listen to them, learn their passions, find them good supports and environments where they can be themselves and develop their positive contribution and good living.
Anger is a signal that change needs to happen--take anger seriously and figure out what that anger is telling you that you need and what you can do to translate that to positive, life enriching energy. That can happen.