Is it normal to react this way

66% Normal
4 Comments

I once knew a kid and he told me stories of things he'd done. When I spoke with him, he was always very mellow speaking and never really reacted to anything. He told me about how when he was in fifth grade, someone had tried to cut his hair (jokingly, with kiddy scissors), and he ripped the scissors in half.
This guy was also with a girl. They broke up, and he got really angry. I told him to let his anger out by yelling, but he said that really didn't like to yell, and would rather hit something. So, he eventually punched a wall.
What I'm really trying to ask is if it's normal for a child (this guy was fifteen when he told me these stories) to react in such a way. He would always act out violently instead of yelling or something. Is this normal? Is this healthy? Is there any explanation for this?

Voting Results
66% Normal
Based on 65 votes (43 yes)
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Comments ( 4 )
  • ProseAthlete
    11 years ago

    If he's not directing that physical anger at a person or at that person's property in a vengeful way, then I would consider it normal. Some people respond to anger with yelling or tears; others respond with an urge to break things. As long as he isn't breaking things that belong to other people to punish or harm them, it doesn't seem particularly abnormal.

    There are plenty of more constructive ways to take out his anger, but he's 15 and may take a while to learn how to channel it more effectively. I'm in my 40s and female, and I still get that "I want to break things" anger sometimes, but now I use it to go for a run or beat up a punching bag.

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  • Maya05
    11 years ago

    Is it normal? Yes. Is it healthy? Hell no. Being overly violent and aggressive like that will more then likely lead to bigger problems in the future unless his anger is put under control sooner then later.

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  • wolfhayley101
    11 years ago

    i used to lash out violently when i was younger i think its perfectly normal

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  • Shrunk
    11 years ago

    I dont think it's normal but i've had a couple friends like that, one's bipolar and I suppose the other could have been too, the one i still talk to he's completely normal to me now, but told me he once punched a kid in the face for saying his shirt was stupid, and broke a glass door in their house for similar reasons (can't remember why exactly), this was only as a young kid, because he was put on medications soon after that. the other i knew he was about 15 too, broke a window at school with his fist just from knocking on it, he laughed it off though his hand was bleeding pretty bad... he got insanely angry a lot at our classmates (and tbh I understood why) but never at me, i really liked him for that and maybe he felt the same, he was always nice and funny to me. Everyone just said he was crazy like mentally unstable so he rarely got in any serious trouble for anything. anyway he's pretty much 'normal' now i think, in college (he was always pretty smart) and with lots of friends, i miss him but i guess he probably forgot me

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