Anger Management and Your 'Tween Hot-tempered flare-ups can become a fact of life with preteens, or ‘tweens. They reach for the independence they crave - but aren’t quite ready for - with challenging behavior, anger and disrespect. The discipline techniques that worked when they were younger seem suddenly out-of-date. The solution: Teaching anger management by learning to manage your own emotions. One of America’s leading authorities on children, Robert Coles, a Harvard professor of pediatric psychiatry and medical humanities who’s won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Medal of Freedom, has often explored the theme of parents’ actions coming back to haunt them. Coles begins his book The Moral Life of Children with an illustrative story from Leo Tolstoy: An ailing, senile father-in-law comes to live with his son’s family. The young daughter-in-law resents his presence and the mess he makes, so instead of eating at the family’s table, she gives him a dishpan in the kitchen. One day the mother sees her little boy hammering some wood, and asks him what he’s making. ‘It’s a dishpan, mommy,’ he says. ‘So I can feed you when you’re old.’ “Our children,” Coles concludes, “are measuring us not by what we say, but by our deeds.” Most experts agree. “Giving in to parental ‘road rage’ teaches your children that it’s ok,” says Linda Dunlap, a child-development expert who chairs the Marist College psychology department. Continue Reading Anger Management >> Many Parents Dread the Summer Break If you know your teen needs structure and the only time you can relax is when your teen is at school, the idea of your child free to do whatever he or she wants during summer break can make you break out in a cold sweat. There are many options for parents during summer break to keep kids occupied in a structure environment, from academic day camps to residential adventure camps. Learn more about ways to keep your teen in a structured environment this summer >>