Customer Reviews

The Angry Child: Regaining Control When Your Child Is Out of Control

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For years I've watched parents and educators tolerate "angry" behavior in chidren and dismiss it with statements like "children can be so mean" -- as though it were a normal part of childhood development. Dr. Murphy is the first time I've heard/read someone say "Although it it sometimes OK to be angry, it is never OK to be mean."

FINALLY!

I am certain that if parents take the time to enforce a zero-tolerance for angry behavior and teach the alternatives, the world will be a much better place. Thank you to Dr. Murphy for taking a stand and empowering us to help our children!

Thanks for such a handy resource parents can learn from. I find Congressman Murphy, being a psychologist, has some helpful insights for parents, especially when he says the answers rest in everyone's houses, not state houses or within the federal government. In fact, he said the same things recently in a television interview.

I'd recommend this book for its common-sense discipline strategies and perspectives into the types of family and their actions that can unwittingly keep the turmoil going in a home. I've read plenty of books on out-of-sorts children. This one, by far, ranks high on my list.

What parent (or teacher) hasn't experienced a child's anger? This new book contains timely information stepping us through the stages of anger and offering pretty practical suggestions for handling other irritations. While an obvious help for kids who are out of control (and their parents, especially), it's a must read if you have a child who is merely out of sorts. And, it ends on a very positive note. Parents, like me, appreciate that! I'll recommend to my friends.

"The Angry Child" is written by State Sen. and pediatrician Tim Murphy. Dr. Murphy warns that angry children turn into angry adults who then tend to have their own angry children. Often, parents need to look at themselves and how to control their own anger to prevent continuing anger into the next generation.
Parents need to determine what causes anger in their children. There are different types of anger. Thus, there are different ways to handle the various categories of anger. Anger often forms along a usual route from causation through explosion. It is important for parents to recognize what creates such anger and to learn methods to derail emotional outbursts. A useful guide to handling different types of anger is presented.
This is a good book for parents. It will help many families find solutions to anger problems.

This is an excellent book for parents looking for good advice minus the psychology that most people don't understand. Read it from cover to cover and enjoyed it thoroughly. Lots of good advice relating to communication and discipline.

I saw Dr. Murphy talk about his book on the CBS Early Show with Bryant Gumble. I was really impressed by the information he gave as it sounded like he was talking about my child.

After i received the book, I could not put it down. The information was to the point and filled with useful advice. Thank you for a book that really helped my family!

While this book provides a very good general outline of issues resulting in angry children and anger issues in families, it is lacking in real world examples and realistic approaches to dealing with children in the midst of a meltdown. The ideas expressed, particularly in chapters 4 and 5, are really long overdue for parents in this age of denial of responsibility but strategies for managing communication with younger children are better laid out in "How to Talk so Kids will Listen & Listen so Kids will Talk" by Faber and Mazlish. Of course the empathetic listening is the key component to opening communication with children and will go a long way toward dealing with anger issues. Unfortunately, this approach has somehow been convolved with the self esteem religion (not promotion of real self esteem, but the feel good nonsense that has eliminated competitive sports from school curricula in most of California) to lead to a kind of culture of therapy approach to raising kids. Dr. Murphy's common sense foundation for the understanding of anger doesn't lead one into this trap, nor does it provide as many concrete real world examples as one would want. I think the two books complement one another other quite well and recommend both for any parent dealing with angry outbursts from a pre-teen.

As I was reading the description of the book, I thought, "Does this guy live in my house?" We have an adopted son with ADHD and a lot of anger issues. Even as I was halfway through the book and trying out some of his strategies, I saw an amazing difference in our son's reactions to us. It really helped to get a professional perspective. If you have an angry child, I would HIGHLY recommend this book.

For those who would wish to educate themselves further on this topic of dealing with angry process in families, schools, and with children, please see interviews done over the years with the lead author of this book.

One is available on Book TV, C-SPAN archives -- search on C-SPAN archives, "the angry child" and you will find the link of 45 minute interview. Others available online as well.

I really recommend the book.

The authors provide a simple framework to descibe how events unfold and how to address the issue at each stage :

The buildup
The spark
The explosion
The aftermath

They also go into details of the psychology and thought process in play. What a child may be thinking or not thinking and how? (Ten characteristics of the angry child) The describe how these can be influenced - and help the child think and solve problems more effectively.

Chapter on "Successful Discipline" also provides basic understanding of using techniques to implement discipline effectively.

The book has more content that I have not read.