Why Children Lie

It is nearly impossible to find people who have never lied in their lives. You have done it in your childhood and you may be continuing to tell white lies even now. Remember, you had to take a day off when your relatives paid a visit, but you didn’t want to tell your boss the truth. So you told him you were down with a splitting headache or fever, didn’t you? However, it can come to you as a shock when your kids lie to you, especially if they make a habit out of weaving a network of lies for no apparent reason. Yes, lying is wrong, it is worrisome and it should be discouraged; but it indeed is normal in children.
Lying in different stages of development
Children of all ages lie for different reasons. No kid is born with a moral code; they learn …show more content…
They can tell more sophisticated lies and do it convincingly as well. They may develop a strong urge to protect themselves, protect their friends, avoid doing things they don’t like, protect their privacy and to assert independence. For a teenager, telling a lie can be a means to achieve these ends.
Reasons why children lie
In order to teach your kids the value of honesty and truth, you should understand why they lie. Kids can lie for many reasons, but the most important ones are listed below:
 Forgetfulness: Young kids, especially pre-schoolers, have short memory spans. So your pre-schooler may take a toy to the terrace and forget to get it back. When you ask her about leaving the toy on the terrace, she may deny it because she’s forgotten about it.
 To get attention: Young kids may tell inconsequential lies or cook up stories to get attention from their parents. When a pre-schooler says “Mamma, mamma, I saw an elephant flying” or “A big stone fell on my head”, she is either sharpening her imagination or attracting …show more content…
At the same time, their parents might be too strict about following disciplinary rules. So, they use lies as a means to assert their independence without inviting trouble from parents. A teen boy who bunks classes and goes to movie with his friends might come back home and lie to his parents that his school day went well.
 To ensure privacy: Children develop a sense of privacy as they grow older. They might want to have a social life uninterrupted by parents. Lying is a way to ensure their privacy without losing the privileges they enjoy. For example, a teen girl is likely to tell her mamma that she was discussing a chapter with her friend over the phone instead of admitting that they were talking about a guy.
Whatever the reasons might be, lying is a habit that should be discouraged early on. If kids get into the habit of lying, it might become hard to correct them. Once your child is old enough to understand the difference between a lie and truth, you should start encouraging her to be honest. Honesty, as they say, is the best policy you can teach your young