Since the shootings in Columbine, a lot of attention has been paid to bullying, gangs, and the occurrence of school violence. Although school safety advocates suggest that there have been improvements in the five years since Columbine, a USA Today article reports that 48 people have died in school related deaths during the 2003-2004 school year, “more than in any years in the past decade.” Additionally, suicide continues to take its toll on our young people. The Centers For Disease Control (CDC) report death by suicide to be the third leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults, with the numbers increasing. A coloring book, Sunny, Color Your Feelings, has been designed to help young children learn to control their anger, before they develop violent behavior problems.
“Sunny teaches children to express their anger in a health creative way,” says Michael Freels, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, and creator of the coloring book. Freels uses the book in his Ft. Lauderdale practice to help children understand their feelings, and to provide a tool for parents of children who have already begun to develop anger problems, including tantrums, defiance, and other precursors to violent and self-destructive behavior. He recommends using the coloring book with young children to teach them to express their anger appropriately. This is the first of a series of such coloring books designed to increase emotional intelligence. Freels has been providing psychotherapy to young children and their families for over 20 years. He has combined professional experience, art therapy methods, and research on the psychological effects of colors to create this tool for parents, teachers, and other therapists to use with children three to seven years old. Sunny is easy to use of all children. It includes over-sized pages, and specialized crayons for use by children who need to transition from tantrums to calmer expressive behavior.
