Emotional Maturity in Middle School

Will they ever grow up? Making sure your middle school student matures emotionally and appropriately. 

What You Need To Know

Learning to balance negative emotions with thoughts and actions that create positive emotions is a lifelong task and a difficult challenge to young teens. To attain emotional “maturity” they need to hone their control over socially discouraged emotions and express emotions in a more acceptable manner. An environment that allows for the range of emotions that kids experience will enhance self-acceptance and propel the maturity process forward.

How You Can Help

Kids’ emotions share some common characteristics, including:

1. Volatility. The suddenness of emotions makes self-regulation hard. When your child directs an outburst at you, model self-regulation. Show your child how to handle intense emotions with calm patience and encourage him/her to do likewise.
2. Reaction vs. Response. Reactions are emotionally triggered while responses result from thinking through those emotions. You can model combining feelings and rational thought by talking out loud through your decision-making process.
3. Safe Environment. Young teens need a stable refuge to talk about feelings, because they have many fears, worries, and anxieties. Make your home safe for your child to vent by modeling with other family members the expression of feelings and a nurturing response.

For more information, please see the full article:

www.education.com/reference/article/emotional-development-issues-middle/