Enjoy this free article courtesy of Choices, the health, social-emotional learning, and life-skills magazine for grades 7–12 

Tame Your Temper

There’s nothing wrong with feeling furious! But learning to control your inner Hulk can keep you from doing all sorts of stuff you’ll regret.

Anger doesn’t have to make you a monster!

Oh, you’ve been there: Your parents are insisting you come home by 10, when everyone else can stay out until midnight. Your soccer coach keeps starting Little Miss Freshman—and benching you. And your ex is making it her mission to be attached to him whenever you’re within 50 yards. You’re angry, and who wouldn’t be? We all have days when we think we might straight-up explode. Everyone (even that soft-spoken clarinetist in your chem lab) feels it!

That’s because anger is 101 percent normal—in fact, it’s rooted in the most primitive of survival mechanisms. When an animal is threatened by a vicious predator, it feels anger as a signal to fight to stay alive. But complex animals that we humans are, our highly evolved brains attach similar meaning to things that aren’t life-threatening but trigger an equally intense response. Once those wires get crossed, the spiral is swift: You’re ready to wrestle your best friend, for example, when a simple, “Hey man, not cool” would probably do the trick.

And while there’s zero shame in getting mad—no one ever got into trouble for having angry thoughts—what you do about your rage makes all the difference. (Think about it: Scream at your parents? Grounded. Eye-roll at your teacher? Sent to detention.) So consider this your survival guide to making it through those moments when you’re on the brink of totally Hulking out. If you can pause, understand where your anger is coming from, and know what to do with it, your relationships—and your whole life—will benefit.

Additional Vocab Words:

perspective

redirects

vulnerable

Like what you see? Then you'll love Choices, our health, social-emotional learning, and life-skills magazine for grades 7–12 

vulnerable

(VUL-nuh-ruh-buhl)

adj.: open to damage or attack

Example: Sleep deprivation can leave you vulnerable to making bad decisions.

redirects

(ree-duh-REKTS) 

v.: uses for a different purpose

Example: If you go running when you are angry instead of punching a wall, the action redirects your energy in a positive way.

perspective

(puhr-SPEC-tiv) 

n.: the ability to view things clearly, in relation to other things

Example: When you are angry or upset, it is difficult to keep things in perspective.

brink

(BRINGK) 

n.: the edge, the point of danger

Example: Sometimes talking to a friend could bring her back from the brink of doing something she shouldn’t do.

mechanisms

(MEH-kuh-nih-zums) 

n.: a way of being that helps a person in a specific way

Example: The mechanisms he had in place to deal with his anger attacks kept him very calm.

Skills Sheets (4)
Skills Sheets (4)
Skills Sheets (4)
Skills Sheets (4)
Text-to-Speech