He rejected “shoulds” altogether when it came to feelings, since he believed them to be natural and, without accompanying wrong action, harmless. He wanted to counter the harmful message kids typically receive, some version of the ever-unhelpful you shouldn’t feel that way. Rogers believed that if children were encouraged to talk about feelings instead of being shamed for them, they could get to work finding appropriate outlets. This song was Rogers’ way of teaching kids how to be angry, instead of how not to be angry. Playing the piano as a child, Rogers wrote, taught him to express the whole range of his feelings.

Source: New York Times November 28, 2019 10:52 UTC