Adolescent Anger and Oppositional Defiant Disorder

If you think that only adults are advised to take therapy sessions for their anger management, then think again.

Have you heard of ODD or Oppositional Defiant Disorder? If not, then let me tell you about it.
A person suffering from ODD experiences persistent anger, angry outbursts, disregard for authority, and the likes. This is experienced not just by adults, but by children as well.

Tips on keeping Kids safe on Facebook

According to a 2010 Pew Internet Project study, nearly three fourths of American teenagers use social networking sites, with Facebook being the most popular by far. But some parents are still skeptical of the site; 55 percent of parents discourage their kids from making a social media profile, according to a recent study by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that analyzes digital and traditional media.

But parents can set reasonable guidelines with their teens to keep them safe online, says Caroline Knorr, parenting editor of Common Sense Media. "Our position is that parents shouldn't fear social media," she says. "Kids are embracing these technologies. As a parent, it's part of your responsibility to engage with them." Here are some of her hints to help your child safely use Facebook.

[See how social media sites impact high school students in the classroom.]

1. Be aware: Parents should know whether their child has a Facebook page or not. "They should have a good understanding of what types of things their kids are posting publicly," she says.

2. Help your child manage privacy settings: Knorr recommends that parents sit down with their child as they choose privacy settings on the site. Make sure your child's profile isn't publicly searchable on Google, that settings showing your child's location are turned off, and that photos are private or visible by friends only.

"Parents should learn what those privacy settings mean and discuss why it's important to keep some things private." Facebook often changes its privacy rules, so check in frequently, she says.
[Learn whether it is safe to share photos.]

3. Don't embarrass them: "Parents need to understand that social networking in today's world is how kids experiment with their own identity. It's a normal developmental stage," she says. "I think parents should try to refrain from commenting, because you may set up a dynamic where your kid will block you [on Facebook], and you might not know about it."

4. Speak up: If you do see something on your teen's Facebook page that could damage his or her reputation or put them in danger, talk to them about it—face to face. "We're so used to communicating electronically," she says. "But there are a lot of conversations that are important to have in person."

Mark Myers Video on Anger Management For Youth

Myers Counseling Group presents Anger Managment

For Youth video.

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Adolescent Anger

During adolescents, individuals are struggling with many developmental, social, emotional, and physical challenges. Peer relations, body image, hormonal changes, sense of identity, and independence issues are to name a few. Most adolescents are able to work through this time with very little difficulties. Others may have a more difficult time negotiating their way through this time. Youths are not always directly expressive of their feelings, trust an adult enough to confide in them, or be able to articulate their emotions themselves as to what is going on.

The emotions this age group is addressing may come out more in their behavior rather than through expressing them. A youth may not verbalize depressed feelings but act depressed. External events(victim of bullying, breakups in relationship) could also be a factor in this behavior. Often, the way they express their emotion is by anger. Anger may not be intentional but more of an expression of them struggling with an emotion or event. An adult’s job is to decipher behavior and help youths manage and express their feelings in appropriate ways.

The first goal is to determine if there is a benefit to their anger. For example, a youth who gets angry every time a parent requests them to do some chores or asks where they are going, may be shaping their parents behavior into not asking these questions for fear of an angry response. The parent may back off for fear of an outburst.

Even if the anger is not serving a function of avoiding accountability for the youth, it is important that this emotion be addressed to help the adolescent learn to adapt to societal expectations. Parents’ will only reinforce this behavior if they do not address the behavior. If a child appears concerned about his anger outbursts, they will need to improve on their problem solving skills, triggers to anger, self talk, and relaxation skills