Teens and Lying

As a parent of a teenager, you know that there are many different issues you must face. It is not easy to be a parent period but especially at such a trying time in your child’s life. You will find that among many things you must face from your teenager, lying may be one of them.

Why Teens Lie

There are many different reasons why teens lie but they typically lie to their parents for many of the same reasons. Usually teens lie because they are afraid of making you mad or of getting in trouble. They may lie about where they are going or what they are doing or even who they are doing it with.

Your teen may lie about a bad grade in school or lie about whether or not they did homework or chores. In most cases, these lies are all because your teen does not want to get in trouble for something they did or something they didn’t do that they were supposed to. In some other cases, however, your teen may really be in trouble and may be lying to you about smoking, drugs or alcohol. This is obviously a serious situation.

How to Handle Lying Teens

If you have a teen that is lying to you, there are several different ways that you can handle it but really it all begins when the child is still young. You need to establish a relationship where your child feels comfortable talking to you about things. This will make it easier as your child becomes a teen.

Secondly, when you know your teen has lied to you about something, you need to simply address it. Sit your teen down and talk about the situation. You need to let them know that you know they lied to you and ask them to talk to you about why. You can also take this opportunity to discuss what your teen could have done instead. This is a great way to handle lying from your teen and try to prevent it in the future.