Expression Of Emotion Essay

The expression of emotions is a natural human behavior, exhibited from birth until death. Emotions give a name to the multitude of feelings and moods that a human being will experience throughout their life. Why then, does society discourage this expression? Especially for boys, the language surrounding the expression of emotion is extremely negative: “Boys don’t cry,” “Man up,” and “Grow a pair” are just some of the phrases that have traditionally been commonplace when raising young men. Even young girls are subject to harmful opinions regarding the expression of emotions, commonly being dismissed as “melodramatic” or “overemotional.” Only recently have the academic and societal spheres begun to challenge these everyday beliefs. Certainly

In short, emotionally intelligent individuals are able to recognize, express, understand, control, and eventually learn from their feelings. In infants, the expression of emotion comes naturally: babies cry to show pain, hunger, exhaustion, and frustration. As a child grows older, adults and caregivers have the immense responsibility to model and teach the recognition, understanding, and control of emotion. Children are fierce imitators who are constantly observing and emulating the actions of those around them. Parents and early childhood teachers must not only model appropriate expressions of emotion, but also allow for diverse techniques for children to express their own feelings of joy, fear, anger, and sadness (among many others). More importantly, it is crucial that schools and communities offer ways for students to label and analyze the emotions that they are feeling. Putting a name to the emotion allows for individuals to speak about how they are feeling, why they are feeling that way, and most importantly: what can be done to improve their emotional state. For some students, “counting to ten” may be all it takes to begin this process. Others will need more support from social workers or school psychologists. Parents and teachers have an obligation to provide safe and open spaces for children to work through emotions in a productive and positive way. Even negative emotions can be beneficial to the development of a child, as long as he or she is provided with the mental and social tools to understand and learn from the emotion and its