Ensnared in anger

I have never seen a child who could get so angry so fast. If Thomas felt slighted in the least, his body would stiffen, his nostrils would flare, his eyes would glaze over, and in a matter of seconds, somebody would be at the wrong end of his fist! Only a few days into the beginning of the school year, in my first teaching job, I returned to my classroom from a break to find Thomas going after another student because of words exchanged during lunch. I realized then that Thomas’ temper was going to be a challenge. When he went into his “anger mode,” it took everything I had to “talk him down.” Thomas and all those who hung around him had reserved seats in the principal’s office.