What are the reasons why children lie?

For children, lying can be divided into two categories: conscious lying and unconscious lying. Especially for babies who have just started school, they will have some fantasies about the next fifteen years, which will be exaggerated to a certain extent. Let us introduce the reasons why children lie.

1. Confusing imagination with the real world

Children have rich imaginations and often make up some irrelevant words out of thin air and speak them as if they were real. This is not the child lying, but the child's imagination. Sometimes children mistake what they imagine for reality because they cannot distinguish the boundary between imaginary situations and reality. Some parents often confuse their children's imaginations with lying, and it is unfair to blame the children in this way.

2. To attract attention

Children have the characteristic of affirming their existence through the attention of others. If in the child's experience, lying can attract more attention from adults, the child can use this method to attract the attention of others.

3. Improper parenting

Some children lie, which is often related to the influence of adults, especially parents' lying, which is often the direct cause of children's lying. Parents are authority figures in the eyes of their children. If parents lie in front of their children, it will give their children the illusion that "lying is not wrong", or at the very least, it will embolden them to lie.

4. Easily influenced by others’ suggestions

Parents should not ask children suggestive questions, such as: "Did you swallow the marble?" Many children will answer "Yes" to this kind of suggestive question. If you ask the child patiently: "Where did the marble go?" The child will point under the table and tell you: "The marble rolled under the table."

5. To achieve a certain wish

Sometimes, children tend to think that what they want is already what they have. This is because the child's mental activities and thinking are not yet fully developed, which results in "fantasy" rather than real lying.

6. To escape from something

Sometimes children lie to avoid certain things. For example, if a child doesn’t want to go to school, he will say, “My stomach aches.” This kind of lying by children is often caused by fear. The excessive use of punishment is an important reason that creates fear and leads to lying. When children do something wrong or behave in a negligent manner, they will intentionally lie in order to shirk responsibility and avoid punishment or scolding from their parents or teachers.