James Donaldson on Mental Health - Teaching Kids How to Deal With Conflict

Brainstorm solutions Once kids understand what the issue is, you can help them practice finding solutions.

Little kids in particular will need a grown-up’s guidance here, but even older kids and teenagers can benefit from having someone to bounce ideas of off.

Lee suggests brainstorming several solutions then putting your heads together to pick the best one.

For younger kids, she recommends a couple of ways to structure this conversation: Problem-solving baseball: This exercise takes kids through the processing of thinking up and evaluating possible action plans.

“I have kids pitch me a problem and then we go through the bases,” Dr.

“So, first base is what’s my problem?

Second base is what are some potential options?

Third base identifies the best options.

And home plate is, am I safe or out?

The object is to help even very young kids start to understand what is going to get them closest to their goal.” The smiley face rating: Lee suggests asking your child to come up with possible conflict resolution options and then asking, “Is this behavior going to make you feel better or worse or pretty much the same?” Note the answer using a visual rating: smiley face, frowny face, neutral?