Incidents of teen lying are common amongst most teens. However, your teen will not accept the fact if confronted. The direct consequence of teen lying is defiance. Your teen defies and refuses to accept that he or she has been lying. Such occurrences and incidents upset you greatly.
Incidents of teen lying occur when your teen wants to hide something from you. Therefore, develop a casual atmosphere at home. Allow your teen sufficient space and be ready to give enough time to listen to their problems or difficulties. An open discussion giving due importance to moral and ethical values can dissuade your teen from resorting to any lies.
Teens sometimes fall into bad company and they resort to teen lying under influence of peer pressure. Always keep an eye on the peer group of your teen and counsel your teen against their growing influence in the initial stages itself. Besides, a good moral and ethical setup at home does not allow your teen to wander off.
Your teen tries to emulate you by following your habits, actions, and behavior. If you have a dual personality and impose restrictions about moral behavior to your teen without adhering to them yourself, you can expect many instances of teen lying. Similarly, adult hypocrisy turns off most teens.
Once you catch your teen in the act of teen lying, before confronting try to look in to the cause of their lying. Let them explain why they felt lying was the best solution. However, later explain the ill effects and consequences of lying. Do not resort to any strict punishments, instead deal with kid gloves. An open discussion with all pros and cons of the incident can make your teen understand the consequences of his or her action. This will dissuade your teen from lying in future.
Drill the fact in to your teen that you have absolute trust in them. This develops their confidence in you and they are ready to spurt out all problems to you. They are confident of your capability to overcome difficult situation. Hence, they will not resort to teen lying.
Resources:
Advice for Parenting Troubled Teens
