Teen Lying – A Dreaded Scenario

Teen lying is undeniably one of the things that worries parents the most. There can be many reasons for a young person to lie, but in general it is a dreaded scenario due to a difficult teenage age.

The first questions

What exactly is lying? Is it not telling the truth? Or covering it up? What happens when the parents themselves are lying?

Are there big lies and small white lies? Or are all lies equally evil, even the most insignificant and harmless? We often consider questions like this when we find ourselves in a situation where lies are possible.

Sometimes teen lies lie more disguised, and sometimes they just wait ready to slip into a conversation at a opportune moment.

Teen lying – the role of a parent

So why can’t parents just talk to their children about this topic? How can they prevent teens from lying? Just as children are not born with cabbage heads, lies are not natural and they largely just build a web of lies.

Children often confuse reality and fantasy with each other and unleash their imaginations. One could say that their story is not entirely true. But their motivation for this fabrication is innocent, and this play disappears as the child ages.

The problem arises when the child realizes that lying can be of secondary benefit.

Teen lying – possible scenarios

Often the lie is due to strict restrictions and rules that parents impose, for example, on arrival times. Or it may be due solely to the guilt evoked by poor school grades or “accidentally” found tobacco in a backpack.

Susana Molina Martin (2010) states:

Training centers go through a period of adaptation in the face of new ways of interacting with the student in relation to their environment.

In her research, Susana Molina Martin describes simulated or pretended behavior during adolescence, and analyzes it as a consequence of a child’s need for survival in their community.

When to worry about teen lying?

Lying – when it’s occasional – doesn’t have to worry much. Just learn to recognize some signs of lying so that such behavior is certainly the exception and not the rule. It needs to be addressed if it becomes a habit.

Why teenage?

Adolescence is the stage when a person still seeks his or her own identity, an independence that would separate him or her from his or her parents. In many cases, the wishes of a teenager do not coincide with the wishes of parents, and this is a favorable situation for the emergence of lies.

In brief

A teen’s lie can show that he hasn’t yet found his own way and so lying seems to lend him an identity.

It is important to emphasize that shortcuts created by lies often seem like easy solutions to overcome an unpleasant situation. However, they are only momentary and can thus prove harmful.