By Nelly Sander, AAU Communication and Public Affairs
Photo: Shutterstock

Emotions have truly come out into the open. Today, there is a strong emphasis on feeling and expressing emotions, especially when making important life choices. This is also true for children and young people, where emotions can occupy so much space that they sometimes affect well-being.

"Today, there is a tendency for children and young people to constantly experience and verbalize their feelings. Emotions become a kind of achievement, something you have to show and be able to talk about all the time," explains Lene Tanggaard, who is a professor of educational psychology.

But according to the professor, it doesn't have to be that way. Children and young people do not need to be constantly focused on their feelings, they rather have to get to know their emotions in literature, art, sensory experiences and through play. We must listen but also open the world to children. 

Emotions are formed in community

When adults help children articulate and manage their emotions, it can strengthen both community and life skills. But if emotions are allowed to take over, it can create more unrest than well-being, and many children and young people are experiencing this in recent years. 

Lene Tanggaard points out that emotions are not just something we possess; they are shaped and developed through interactions with others, and we can influence them far more than we realize.

"Emotions are both biological and culturally shaped. From childhood, we learn to express our feelings and regulate them through interaction with others. And emotions are not fixed. They can be shaped, cultivated and developed through upbringing, language, and social frameworks, says Lene Tanggaard.

This means that adults around children and young people have an important role in helping them understand and manage their emotions. 

Well-being requires more than feeling

The professor emphasizes that well-being is not only about feeling good emotionally in the moment, but also about being able to be part of communities, learn new things and cope with adversity. Too much focus on emotions can undermine well-being if children and young people do not learn to regulate and understand them in a larger context.

It requires that adults around children are willing to talk about feelings but also dare to set boundaries and help children navigate them. It's not about suppressing emotions, but about finding a balance where emotions have space without toppling the world.

How to Help Children and Young People Understand That Emotions Are Natural, But Don’t Have to Control Everything:

Contakt

• Lene Tanggaard, Professor, Department of Communication and Psychology, tel.: +45 99 40 90 39, Email: lenet@ikp.aau.dk
• Nelly Sander, Project Manager, AAU Communikation and Public Affairs, tel.: +45 99 40 20 18, Email: nsa@adm.aau.dk