Alternative outlets for aggression

 

My name is James. I work in a respite home for children and young people with learning disabilities.

 

There are lots of young people who come through our doors and, not surprisingly, we have had some bullying behaviour.

 

One boy in particular used to get upset and angry and take it out on other young people. It was difficult, because we knew that he was just trying to deal with his feelings, but the impact it had on other people was not acceptable.

 

Obviously, we wanted to address the reasons why he was upset, but you can't stop someone from every being angry. It's a healthy emotion, but he just needed to deal with it better.

 

We had a proper talk with him and agreed that when he got frustrated, he could use other activities to release tension. Things like ripping up paper, or throwing a ball at a wall or scribbling on a chalkboard made a big difference to his mood- and to the people around him.

 

It really helped him and we've done similar things with other young people. Everyone's different, so it's just a case of finding something that works for the individual, but now we know that if we see a certain young person sitting with headphones in, they just need some space.