Children tend to lie. Sometimes they are big lies and sometimes they are small fibs. But what we don’t realize is that depending on their age they may not realize that what they are doing is lying. When children are babies and toddlers they don’t really have a sense of morals just yet. They just know that when their parents are raising their voices it is not good and they need to say what they can to make it better. Once they are past that stage and are roughly 3 to 7 years old they live in a fantasy world. Everything is exciting and now and the tend to let their imaginations run wild without realizing that they may be telling a small lie. From there up until 10 years old they know what lying is but may not realize the full extent of their actions once they have told a lie. After 10 years of age they know exactly what they are doing and why they are doing it.
There are many different reasons that a child may lie including:
– They want to get out of doing something that they don’t want to do. For example if they are asked to rake the leaves and they say that their back really hurts.
– They may have accidentally told a white lie but instead of owning up to it they don’t want to get in trouble so they keep telling more cover up lies which never ends well.
– Some kids lie to try and be with the “cool kids”.
– They watch their parents lie and imitate them thinking that it is okay.
– If a child has an abusive parent in the home they will say whatever they can to make sure that they aren’t hit.
In order to help prevent your child from becoming a pathological liar you need to set an example. Try not to lie as much as possible, especially in front of them. If you catch them in a lie, call them out on it and act appropriately. Sometimes you have to go beyond the lies and figure out why they feel the need to fib. Always make sure that you take the time to explain to them that lying is bad and teach them that there are consequences should they get caught.
(via Black Home School)
