The role of humour in anger management amongst six to twelve year old children in buea sub-division

This study was an investigation on the role of humour in anger management amongst six to twelve year old school children in Buea sub-division. The theoretical underpinnings of the study hinged on the cognitive development theory of Jean Piaget, Freudian Psychoanalytic theory, cultural-historical theory and moral development theory.  The design considered appropriate for this study was a pretest, posttest quasi experimental design whereby 32 male and female children were randomly assigned into the experimental and control groups. Eighteen of the selected samples were randomly assigned to the experimental group and the other eighteen to the control group. A five point Likert scale questionnaire was the main instrument for data collection. Data were analyzed using the t-test where the mean scores of both the experimental and control groups were compared, as well as a comparison of the mean scores for the pre and post-tests scores. Results indicate that when trained, children are able to use humour related skills like clowning, joking, jesting, riddles, blind folding, and laughing which helps them communicate properly, build relationships, express negative emotions, diffuse anger and gain a sense of connection with others. Such connections go a long way in building trust, respect, and understanding. Most importantly, through the use of humour, children are not only able to develop cognitive and linguistic competences, but as a way of coping with the psychological, social and physical constraints of growing up.   Recommendations were made to Parents, caregivers and teachers to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves to teach children anger management skills especially those related to humour and play.