Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-06-04
Find Cause
OF Child's
Lying
Fairy Tales May
Be FOrerunner
Of Habit
BY Lettuce Lee Street,


AS Grandmother knitted Swear
old Tommy looked at a picture
book, talking aloud as he turned
the pages. The drawings were of
soldiers, and suddenly Tommy rose
to his fat legs and limped over to
his Granny.
why, what is the matter with
you leg, dear?" she asked anxiously
"Oh, Granny, a long, long time
ago, bout last week, my leg got
cutted off an dey sewed it back on
an it still stings Tommy"
The little boy looked her straight
in the eye.
We'll, WELL" replied the Grand
mother. too bad. Tell me more
about the battle"
Tommy went on, and when his
story was exhausted Granny asked
him, and this time it was she who
did the looking in the eye. That is
just an exciting make-believe story.
isn't it. Tommy?"
Tommy hesitated, but finally he
agreed, oh. yes
At about 3 years a child starts to
picture things mentally, and his
imagination begins TO develop. Up
to this time he has been busy dis
covering his feet and hands and
how to use them. Suddenly he dis
covers the world and all the fas-
cinating things in it. his mind is
fired with fantasy and he starts to
weave fairy tales.
At this age you can do helpful
work in training your child TO tell
the truth by never letting him feel
that he has made you believe one
of his fantasies Enter into the
spirit of his imaginative wander
ings, but always bring him back to
fact and reality at the end of the
story.
Many older children lie, and a
knowledge of the cause is necessary
to stop it. The causes can be many.
Among them. and most prevalent
with girls, are lies to plan sur
prise. to protect another or to keep
secret. Children often go through
very Secretive stage.
Other reasons for lying are: A
desire TO impress others. fear of
punishment. or of being hurt or of
being deprived of something wanted.
10 avoid nagging, shame because of
poor clothes or poverty or Just be-
cause a child speaks without think
ing.
How do you treat your child? Are
you fair to him. does he trust YOU,
or do YOU scold. threaten and
intimidate him? Does he hear YOU
telling what you laughingly describe
as white lies? Truth is truth Il
a child: he cannot distinguish be-
tween lie that is white and one
that is black! Your child is much
more influenced by your actions
than your words.
Therefore. if you are worried
about your child's falsehoods. try to
analyze not only your youngster.
but yourself as we'll Once YOU
honestly believe that YOU have
found the cause, set out to remove
it using great care as you expert
ment lest you aggravate the situa-
ton.
Spotlight your childs first at.
tempts at lying and try to teach
him how much easier it is to tell
the truth, show him that one lie
leads to another, and that he will
only find trouble along this course
If YOU are eaSygoing you will help
to establish that which is nothing
more than a bad habit of a bright
mind out of control. Tell him that
bravery means truthfulneSs Just as
much as physical courage does
Punishment should be administered
more for the lie than for any mis-
chief.
AS with all behavior problems OF
children, one can not generalize
Fair minded parents may see null
tiple causes for untruthfulness and
they will proceed slowly and eau
tiously until their child is taught
to understand the strength there is
in truthfulness, and then he will
be cured.