Do you believe that children do not lie?

NO! I don't believe that. Maybe yes for the children in the 1990s or 80s but not the children now. They are just too smart! My friend's younger sister is one of them. We tried to fool around with her when she was only 4 years old. We told her that her soft toy has disappeared and was kidnapped by an alien, and she told us "Don't lie to me. You're hiding the soft toy behind you" I was like oh my gosh, she's not funny at all! And few minutes later, the same little girl came to my friends and I and told us that her brother (our friend) was looking for us outside. We went out and my friend was clueless what happened. She lied.

Personally I dont think its human nature to lie. I think its an ugly acustum we learn as we grow up. I heard the Aztecs never lied and didnt teach to lie. I also heard in the LOas language they have no word for anger, implying they dont learn this feeling and have no word to describe it. Great post makes a person think.

I hope my response won't be marked '-ve' but it is quite common for any children to tell a lie. It does not relate much to upbringing as most parents do not teach their kids how to deliver false statements confidently. But this is something they acquire by birth as their natural self defense mechanism.

As long as they are kids and do not start understanding the difference between truth and lies, kids speak innocently, whatever comes in their minds. It is we parents, who spoil the minds of kids by telling them how to tell a lie. If we tell the that truth always prevails (exceptions are always there) then they will behave accordingly. It largerly depends upon the upbrininging of the child. My experiences says if I tell a lie to other in front of my kid and he comes to know that I was speaking a plain lie, he will do the same some day. I need to discipline myself, before I expect my child to speak truth and only truth. Good Post!

I don't believe that. Or.. exactly, I don't know whether they were lying or not. I couldn't say that exactly because I think it was all about parenting. My parents never lied to me before and they told me not to lie. That's why I never lied as a kid. But in some other family where the children taught with the lies, they learned from the nature that they should lie to get to what they wanted. So it might would bring me to the conclusion that... yes, some children are lying about something. They were taught by the environment, or the wrong parenting style about how to react in certain situation. I have never seen a kid lying to me about something big, actually. Maybe they're just too exagerrating something so it sounded like a lie, but.. yeah, maybe it was not.

I think that lying is not natural for kids... but sometimes they do. Unlike the extreme lies adults do, maybe these lies are in the form of white lies or make belief... I'm sure you have a lot of experience when a child says, I went to the park with grandpa when in fact the kid lives in a condo and the grandpa is in the province. This i would think is make belief... adventurous thinking which is healthy. Another one is when they don't exactly tell the truth... "it was yaya who ate the chocolates" but their nails still have the smudges of chocolates and the wrappers are inside their pockets. So lying, YES.

I disagree with you. Children do lie and they start at a very young age if they think they have done something wrong and will get into trouble. They will often blame things that they have done on someone else. They have to be taught to tell the truth.

You've never had a child tell you they didn't get in the cookie jar with their shirt covered in crumbs? Or hear, "NO" when you ask them if they need to go "potty" while they're doing the "PP Dance"? I'll give you, most lies told by little kids aren't that big a deal. They are usually when they know they are in trouble. Of course, I've also heard huge lies from kids when I rode ambulance. From the small "no that doesn't hurt" when the rest of their body is telling you it does to the protective "no, daddy didn't hit me" or the horrifying, "daddy hit me" when all the physical evidence says otherwise.

I know for a fact that younger ones don't - like under 3 or 4 - they haven't learned how to do that yet! My GD's tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth - therefore we all watch what we say around them cause they will repeat it and at the very inconvenint place! I think after that, they learn how - whether from parents or friends... they learn what they are taught!

i know better cause my kids lie all the time and it is something i am trying to break them from, but with kids it is hard to break that.

i have the same believe with you ,in the old days i always trust the children .but recently happened one things to me,but i still believe the children now. i feel the chikdren is so cute ,now i am a student come from china .nice to meet you .what are you doing now.i am like the children so much ,but i have a nephew,and i like he so much . i wish you have a happy day.recently i fell so worry . i fell i have a lot of thing to do can you ,can you give me some good advice .thank you for you .i wish you everything is ok.

Very young children don't know how to lie, but I think they soon learn. Their motives are usually either self-protective or just plain mischievous. Initially, they will not be very good at it. The mischievous lies will be accompanied by a broad grin that indicates they are playing games with you. When telling lies to try to stay out of trouble, they will often look shifty and refuse to meet your eyes, and you can usually tell they are lying. How you deal with it can influence the extent to which they lie in the future. Sadly, if they continue, they will learn just how to fool you.

Hi,i have no child yet.But i am agree with what you have said.Also,The instructing in words and by deeds of parents compares for child it is important.

Make the child know that he'll be punished if he lies, and if he doesn't, he may be excused.

I think it really depends on their age. I think from age 1 to maybe about 5 or 6 this are the ages were they really have no idea what lying is but as they grow up and realizes that there is this option to lie then they start to use that option. Although with constant reminder that lying is bad I guess it could be prevented later in life but I do not think that they will be honest all their lives as there are times that we are tempted to lie about something.

i think some times kids too lie but their ies are easily understandable and if we are little cunning then it can be found out. i am a horrible lire, when ever i lies without even looking at me my mother would find it. she knows me bit too much lol!

It all depends on the age and development of the child. Some children are more precocious than others. They can say something that isn't even close to the truth but it doesn't mean that it's a lie. It just means that they're wrong. For it to be a lie there has to be an intent for whatever reason to deceive. That's a skill that they learn just like any other. I'd be very careful about accusing a young child of lying when they say something that obviously isn't true. Find out why they're saying it and you'll find out if they've lied or are mistaken, or just being immaginative etc.

I suppose it depends somewhat on the age of the child. My boys are pretty bright so they figured out that sometimes parents lie to get what they want, as in "You better be good or Santa Claus won't bring you a present" for 9 years and then "OK, we lied. There is no Santa Claus." And we also tell our kids to lie sometimes, as in, "When you're at a dinner party, always compliment the cook even if you didn't like the food. It's good manners." So sometimes lying is good manners. It's confusing. My 11 y.o. boy doesn't lie except to be polite, and even then he can still sometimes be a bit embarassingly honest, but my 9 year old does lie sometimes. Fortunately we know it. He's observed that when some other kids lie they often get what they want.. and what he wants. Or they avoid blame for something. I want my boys to understand that life is full of these types of people and gray areas. They need to understand how to deal with them without sacrificing their own values. Teaching a child when to fib a little to be polite or to protect someone's privacy and when a fib becomes a lie is not simple. We had a long talk about lying just the other day so I think he's got the idea lying as a way of socializing or to manipulate behavior or an outcome can have seriously negative consequences (the boy who cried wolf effect). It's not always as black-and-white a lesson as it may at first seem. Thanks for the topic!

Children lie all the time, and learn the consequences so hopefully they will not do it in the future. I think it takes quite a while for a child to full understand how lies hurt people... I think children at first think they are telling a story or playing a game. Its how the parents react and how they discipline the child that will make a difference.

i dont believe that one. my little brother lies so much you cannever believe a word he says. its like the only thing that comes out of his mouth is lies. so icant go with that.