subject: Do Not Let Your Son Or Daughter Sway Your Own Morals [print this page] Children are used to lying and they don't feel any guilt when they do it. For them it is just a means to get them out of the trouble they had caused. They are afraid of what punishment they have waiting for them so to avoid it, lying seems to be the best way. Parents should not tolerate it though. Calling the children's attention when they lie and explaining to them the consequences of lying is a must for their children to change their ways. Parents could let it slide every now and then but if the child is really pushing it to the limit, that's a different story.
Do not worry if your child starts to lie. Every parent in the world will experience this. For you to be able to get rid of his habit of lying you should first discover the reason behind it. Keep in mind that it is obvious when children lie. It is also a lot different than the lies of adults.
One of the reasons why children lie is to mimic adults. However, its not always the cause; sometimes there may still be other explanations for this.
Observing them is the best key to determine why they lie. Children are attention-seekers so it may be one of the reasons why they lie so much.
Stop asking the child if you already know the answer. Knowing that he broke something and still asking if he did it increases the chances for him to lie again. Remember, you are the parent. Tell it straight to him that he did it and conduct the proper punishment. Also make him realize that no matter how much he does it he wont get away easy.
Also, don't get mad when he lies. it is part of a child's developmental growth and if he doesn't do it then something must be wrong with him. Even if he lies, you should still keep your calm. If you get angry all of a sudden that might be the cause of him lying to you. He might get scared that you'll get mad so he would prefer to lie than be punished instead.
Assisting your child to get rid of this behavior is hard. It will require a lot of time for talks and observation for him to be able to understand that lying is wrong. Just keep in mind that once he gets past this stage he will be an honest little boy that you will be proud of.
