Lying

It's normal for your child to lie but it can be really frustrating. Understanding why your child is lying can be a helpful first step to encouraging them to be more honest.

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Lying

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How to encourage honesty

Talk about what’s happened but don’t expect a confession! Instead, focus on how the child can help make amends e.g. “I see you have got some pen on the wall. How can we sort that out?” or “I get why you don’t always want to tell me where you are, but my job is to keep you safe. How can we rebuild some trust?”
Try not to get angry with your child. Your child might be lying to you because they’re afraid you’ll be angry at them, and shouting at them might make them even more afraid of telling the truth. Instead, try saying, “I can see you’re really set on letting me know you didn’t draw on the wall. I wonder if it’s because you’re worried I’ll be angry at you.”
Set a good example. Your child learns from you, so if you bend the truth e.g., telling a friend you are busy when you aren’t, they might think lying is okay.

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Still want more information?

Supernanny has some great tips of how to encourage honesty in your children:

https://www.supernanny.co.uk/Advice/-/Parenting-Skills/-/Discipline-and-Reward/How-to-deal-with-lying-and-encourage-honesty-.aspx

Time to reflect

When thinking about how to support your child in being honest…

What are you already doing that you want to carry on doing?

What have you learned that you could try today?

What do you want to do next?

Know what you want to do next?

Log into your free account (on the top right-hand side) to set a goal on something that’s important to you and your family – then you can check in to show yourself how far you’ve come.

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