At one point the therapist told us that we should hide all the knives in the house (just in case) since DS8 was making some very basic suicide threats.
This just reminded me of something I had completely forgotten. When DS was around 3 he was
obsessedwith knives. He never mentioned doing anything with them but would ask me to take down the knife block so he could see them better. He did this in other people's homes also. It really creeped me out. Eventually it faded and nothing ever came of it.
Aside from that shudder inducing memory - I think it is better to verbalize frustration than to physically act on it and children these days are much more savvy about violent acts these days between the news/movies/songs etc. I think the more a child can express anger the quicker it will be "over". Of course, there needs to be the caveat of "Tell Mom and Dad those things and not the teacher."
Maybe help him think of 3 other things he can say to himself/others when he is angry so he has a quick alternate that allows him to vent in the moment with less repercussions.
