Dear Reader,
Thank you for asking this question! I am sure many others have wanted to ask this question in the past! Can I give a short + sweet answer? I love working with aggressive kids, because they're awesome! Seriously, they are awesome, because if you can look beyond the behavior - you see their precious hearts!
I love working with aggressive kids, because they are simply longing to be validated! Let's stop + consider our own feelings! We want to be acknowledged + validated as a human being in this world. Why wouldn't teens want the same thing? It's easy for us to look at their behavior + see they're acting out for attention. This is actually true, but guess what? We all act out for attention. All behavior is attention-seeking, because everyone wants to be acknowledged! Kids learn very early on how to get their needs met. If the parent is too busy for them when they request attention in a positive way, they will start to make the parent pay attention by being negative.
I also love working with aggressive kids, because hurting people hurt people. Again, it's easy to look at the teen's behavior + forget that there is a root cause for the behavior. People aren't born vindictive + malicious. This is learned behavior based on their experiences + their environment.
Next time you meet a teen with aggressive behaviors, I would encourage you to think about these things differently. Take some time to look beyond the behaviors (without condoning them) + get to know the teen's actual story! Do you work with aggressive teens? Know an aggressive teen? What are your reasons for working with them? I would love to hear it!