Establish guidelines in your house about truth. If it is relevant to your family, explain white lies and how they may differ from truth and lying. Discuss moral issues and explain to your school-age children why we don t lie. Give relevant examples of how even small lies betray trust and can erode friendships and relationships at home. Swift, meaningful and consistent consequences must be carried out by the parent when a child does lie.
All children lie but in most, it is infrequent.
If you note your child falling into a pattern of mistruths, it is best to nip it early and not hope it is just a phase . Though lying behavior evokes intense emotion in most parents, avoid over-reaction and severe consequences. Your child may quickly become numb to You re grounded for 2 months and the consequence loses its power. Demonstrating to the child that telling the truth about a previous misbehavior will lessen the punishment is not compromising your parenting values. Accidentally breaking a treasured dish due to prohibited rough-housing is not good.