Christmas WS's!Lying is a big ‘no no’ in our house. In fact, it’s among our top parenting priorities. There has certainly been a couple of episodes where we have torn our hair out in frustration trying to teach our daughter that we all make rash judgments and mistakes, but lying about them makes it even worse.
I came across some interesting stats this week about this topic:
By the age of two, a University of Toronto study found that 20% of children fib. 70% of 16-year-olds admit to lying and, as expected, they are far more adept at it than the two-year-old.
Where do they learn to lie? From us – their parents:
A University of Massachusetts study found that 60% of adults interview lied two or three times during the interview – which only took about 10 minutes. Another survey says we average 1.68 lies a day, even though 60% of us claim that we never lie.
As I was thinking about this a bit more, I’m now wondering if all lying is bad? When grandma says: “how do you like my new hair color?” – and you look at her bluerinse, you can’t very well say: “you look purple!”
How do you teach your kids about those scenarios? We’ve probably all been in the situation where you are at family or friends for dinner and the host/hostess asks your child how he/she liked the dinner? Most of us probably catch our breath at this point (I certainly do as I have a picky eater) – hoping your child will compliment the host.
How do you navigate the complexities of lying in your house?
