Life is tough, especially when people are mean.

This week, I had conversations with several young people who were feeling quite miffed at the world, to put it mildly. There were incidents involving punches, shoves, grabs, and even the throwing of a few rocks. Sounds like a terrible week, doesn't it? Surprisingly, it wasn't. The learning that occurred was truly fabulous.

Growing up, I had a lot of siblings—when I say a lot, I mean a lot! One of my sisters was often mean to me, and my brothers, who were 2 and 3 years younger, caused me many hours of anger and frustration. It was tough. I often cried in frustration and dreamed of being adopted. However, despite the challenges, I can still vividly remember the pain I felt when one of my younger brothers left for boarding school. His fear and my incredible need to protect him have never left me.

When I talk to children at school who are angry, frustrated, and hurt, feeling like the world is against them, I am reminded of how it was for me growing up with all of my siblings. Not many of our children today have a dozen people living in the same house. They do not experience the same frustrations I felt growing up. As parents, you might not have the opportunity to witness how your child behaves when they are feeling angry and frustrated with their friends. However, they do get plenty of opportunities to experience these feelings at school. This is when they engage in the most fabulous social and emotional learning; this is when resilience is built.

How can you help? By engaging with your child as you cook dinner, listening to them as they tell you about their terrible classmate and the great injustices done to them. Acknowledge their feelings and share a time when you felt like this too. Ask them what they did about it, and praise them when they come up with a good plan to move on from this setback. Like I said on our parents' night, our children aren't saints yet. Knowing that the feelings they have are normal helps them deal with the feelings and prevents them from becoming too overwhelming. Annoying and mean people—have you had to deal with any lately? The world is full of them, and having the skills to deal with them is invaluable. Let's empower our children with the skills they need so that they can grow healthy minds.