🔴 What Is the Red Zone? | Episode 4

Helping Students (and Teachers!) Understand the Red Zone and How to Handle Big Anger

Hey friend,

Have you ever felt so angry that it feels like a fire burning inside you?

That’s what we call the Red Zone.

Welcome to learning about the ZONES of REGULATION - in this video, we are going to DEEP DIVE Into the red ZONE!

💬 What Is the Red Zone?

The Red Zone means your feelings are super strong — like a storm inside you.You might feel:

• Mad or furious

• Out of control

• Ready to yell or hit

• Like stomping or breaking things

It’s a BIG feeling, and it can be scary.

⚠️ Acting Out Doesn’t Get Your Needs Met

Here’s the truth: when you release anger by yelling, hitting, or hurting others, it doesn’t solve your problem — and it doesn’t help anyone. 

In fact, it often makes things worse:

• Friends might stop wanting to play with you.

• Teachers and adults may lose trust or respect.

• You might miss out on things you enjoy.

Anger is a signal, not a command to act out.

🎯 The Red Zone Is Your Trigger to Use a Strategy — Not to Explode

When you feel that fire burning, it’s a warning — a moment to pause and choose a different path.

Instead of acting out, you can:

• Take deep breaths

• Squeeze a stress ball

• Use an Anger Bear or another safe outlet to release feelings without hurting yourself or others

• Ask for help or take a break in a calm space

🐻 What’s an Anger Bear?

For some students, like those with very strong anger, we use something called an Anger Bear — a stuffed friend you can punch, squeeze, or tell your anger to.

It’s a safe way to let that fire out without hurting yourself or other people.

🤝 We All Feel Anger — It’s What We Do With It That Counts

Everyone gets angry sometimes — teachers, parents, even principals! That’s normal.

But what separates us is how we handle it.

🌟 Angry People vs. Regulated People

• Angry people who act out often find themselves losing friends, missing opportunities, or feeling stuck.

• Regulated people — those who manage their anger — find that others want to be around them, doors open for jobs, friendships grow, and they become stronger and happier.

It should also be noted and emphasized that, ANGER AND how short your fuse is with being triggered to anger can be directly linked to TOO MUCH video games. It’s not normal to ALWAYS feel angry. That is a sad life to live. Let’s find strategies out of this, so you can activate your brain in ways you never thought imaginable… but it all starts with practicing and learning how to REGULATE THOSE BIG BIG FEELINGS. IT IS a learning process, you will make mistakes, but each time you will learn, and build new learning pathways in your brain to be the best version of yourself in your future adult life.

💡 Teachers: How to Help Students in the Red Zone

• Teach kids to recognize the feeling before it explodes.

• Provide safe outlets like Anger Bears or calm-down corners.

• Model calm responses and share your own strategies.

• Celebrate when kids choose strategies over acting out.

• Emphasize that you are on their team against the behavior. 

• Continue teaching expected and unexpected behaviors

👊 Final Thought

Red Zone feelings are powerful, but you are more powerful than your anger.

When you learn to handle the fire inside, you build respect, keep your friends, and open up a better life.