Why Do Children Lie & What is the Best Way to Handle the Situation?

How do you feel when you catch your child lying? Yes, we understand that a child who is prone to lying or keeping away the complete truth may be a sign of worry for most parents. So, what do you think would be the right approach to take under such circumstances? Do you really think scolding or spanking them for lying to you can solve the problem? No!

In fact, one of the most common mistakes that most parents make upon catching their little one lying is to get angry at the child or give him labels. Do you think once this happens, your child will turn his back to lying? Of course not! He will continue with his lying tactics.

At The Navyandhra School, recognized among the top ten schools in Gurgaon, we firmly believe that the right method of dealing with children, who lie often, is to show them your concern and work collectively on eliminating this habit. The first step in this direction is to try and identify the possible reasons your child could be lying to you. So today, in this article below, we will be first listing out some of the possible reasons behind children lying and will then also look at the go-to methodologies that can offer a guard against such situations.

Why do children lie?

Possible reasons as to why children lie:

• Children do not want to find themselves in a spot, which is why they consider lying as the best escape route.
• They want to see how the parents react to their lies.
• They wish to narrate a story, and to make the narration more interesting, they end up adding one or two lies here and there.
• At times, children may lie solely to divert attention towards them.

All in all, whatever the reason is, lying is a habit that must be curbed as soon as possible. This is primarily because children who lie often are likely to find themselves in trouble due to their habit of lying. Even though not immediately, the repercussions will be felt in the long run. Moreover, if not stopped at the right time, lying can become a habit, which will lead to your child lying out of practice without any reason whatsoever.

How to prevent your children from lying?

• Encourage them to tell the truth over lies:

Truth prevails, come what may. Let them know that if they lie once, they may have to shed a series of lies to cover the first lie. Thus, whatever the situation is, it is always better to choose to tell the truth instead of lying.

One of the first ways of teaching children to bid goodbye to lies is by making them understand how truth can protect them under every circumstance. Tell them that in the end, it all comes down to making the right choices. When they have to choose between the truth and a lie, it will be beneficial for them to opt for the former.

In fact, we, at The Navyandhra School, positioned among the top ten schools in Gurgaon, firmly believe that teaching children the value of honesty is one of the basic life lessons that they must be taught during the early years. Thus, we always emphasize the same to our students and take the help of various moral stories and real-life examples to make the kids understand the importance of choosing the truth over deceit.

• Avoid using the term “Liar”:

If you happen to find out that your child has lied, in the spur of the moment, you might end up naming him as a liar. Even though that might not mean a lot to you, your child might start identifying himself as a liar. What will follow is that your child will take to lying in the future as well. Thus, parents need to avoid putting down their children and instead sit down and talk to them whenever such a situation arises.

• Speak about consequences:

Simply asking your child to stop lying is not enough. You need to explain to your child that when he or she lies, it is likely to come in the way of trust and honesty and might bring not-so-good consequences along with it.

When your child understands that certain behavior is unacceptable because there are severe consequences attached, he is likely to mend his actions.

• Lead by example:

Parents who are desirous of their children telling the truth under every circumstance should first try to walk the talk. As a parent, if you are prone to lying, then definitely you need to begin by working on yourself.

You need to show your child how you avoid falling into the trap of lies and instead choose the path of righteousness. When your child sees you behaving in a certain manner, he is likely to assume your role. The moment you stop lying, you win the battle of stopping your child from lying.

Lying should never be the option!

At The Navyandhra School, one among the top ten schools in Gurgaon, we strongly believe that being strict with your children, shouting at them, or cutting down on the playtime is definitely not the way to go as far as instilling the habit of truthfulness goes. What is even more important is to become your child’s best friend and have a heart-to-heart conversation with him. When you do this, you are more likely to take your child on the right path. After all, when the objective is to enable the kids to grow into responsible and trustworthy individuals, teaching them crucial life skills and values becomes a must.