Many children lie sometimes and it is completely natural for them to do so as they learn how to function in society. But if your baby is lying and enjoying a lot, you should intervene at this early stage.
There are many reasons why a child may resort to lying rather than telling the truth. Maybe they’re trying to make themselves feel better or look cool by bragging about lying in front of others. Or maybe they made a mistake and are afraid or embarrassed to tell the truth. Or they’ve done some mischief and don’t want to be caught for their pranks. Lies can be innocent or they can be harmful to the child as well as others. It is important to recognize and track their lying behavior and take steps to control the situation effectively.
Some children do not lie consciously and it actually becomes part of their habit. They are unable to control this habit which means the child is struggling to organize their thoughts or think about the consequences of their actions or words.
Here are some strategies you can try to encourage your child to speak the truth.
1.
gain their trust to share the truth
If you don’t bond well with your child or are too strict whenever they do something stupid, chances are your child won’t trust you to share their mistakes or embarrassing moments with you. You should be forgiving (though not always) and don’t get too mad or upset with your child when they go wrong. Otherwise, next time they will try even harder to hide the truth from you. Acknowledge them and explain to your child that honesty will not lead to punishment. If you confront an angry child, they may tighten their shell further and lie more. The more they lie, the easier it becomes for them to do it again.
2.
Use Inspirational Stories
In an interesting study, researchers found that stories that encouraged honesty with a positive response, even if it was admitting one’s fault, showed children more likely to lie than stories that came with a punishment for lying. Chances will be less. In addition to story books, you can also share incidents from people your child knows and teach them how being honest has been beneficial to them.
3.
practice what you preach
Parents often lie to manipulate children into good behavior or to avoid difficult conversations by lying to their child instead of telling and explaining the truth. However, when your child feels or sees that you are lying to them or someone else around, they may pick up on this behavior and accept lying that it is okay to do something. A study from the University of California, San Diego found that elementary school children who heard a lie from one adult about the presence of candy in another room were more likely to lie to cover up their misbehavior. It is important to model the right behavior yourself and your child will pick up these good values more easily from their environment.