My Teenage Son Is Lying To Me: What To Do?
During adolescence, young people shift from focusing on family to focusing on friends. In fact, it can make a teenager start lying and trying to exaggerate achievements, justify mistakes, or make up events. So, in this article, we’ll teach you what you should do to correct this behavior. Is your child lying to you? Find out what to do!
When you notice that your teenager is lying, we first recommend that you take a deep breath and try not to get nervous. Losing your temper is a normal part of raising any child or teenager. However, it is not the best option, as children often lie to get attention or get a reaction.
To prevent this from happening, it is important that your child trust you. That means he should feel comfortable looking for you if he has any problems.
Therefore, you should encourage honesty and praise his attitude when this happens. For this, it is essential that you try to maintain and express your thoughts about the importance of honesty, but always calmly.
My son is lying to me: what can I do?
Here are some tips for preventing your child from lying to you. Above all, they are values that must be promoted so that he feels secure and shares his experiences – both good and bad – with you.
1. Explain the difference between truth and lie
The first tip is to talk to your child about telling the truth and what lying means. Regardless of how old your child is, it’s very important to explain the difference between telling the truth and lying. You should also make him aware of the possible consequences of being dishonest.
However, it is equally important for the child to control when to tell the truth, rather than being excessively honest. That is, your child needs to learn that he doesn’t necessarily have to talk about things just because he needs to show honesty.
Balancing honesty with compassion and evaluating the context is a sophisticated social skill that you should start teaching early on. Inappropriate words often do a lot of harm to other people, even if that is not the intention of the speaker.
2. Negotiate rules and limits
Setting agreed rules and boundaries is one of the most effective ways to reduce conflict. Don’t forget that one of the reasons teenagers lie is because they think their parents don’t listen. If they think the rules are unfair and there’s no room to negotiate or make exceptions, then, in his mind, lying is the only option.
That way, when your teenager wants to propose an exception to a rule, it’s time to listen. Try to understand what is important to him in each case. So think about what’s at stake for you and see if you can find a happy medium.
Of course, this will not always be possible. However, if you never leave room for negotiation, your teen will think it’s not worth asking. So he won’t do that and will resort to lying.
3. Connect with your child
You should try to make connecting with your child your top priority. This bond between mother and child is the basis for the truth to always be told. This is the foundation on which honesty builds.
Certainly, a child with good connections at home will want to share the aspects within him without lying. Therefore, consider that the connection between you is the strongest and most reliable preventive measure you can take against lying. However, you must be patient for this union to be established.
4. Let your child regret it
The last tip on the list may seem unrealistic, but you should keep it in mind as one of your main goals. Ideally, teenagers who choose to use lying to avoid acknowledging the facts immediately admit their mistake.
Remember that a young man who is on the defensive and intended to lie thinks of reasoning and justification as manipulation techniques, to avoid taking responsibility . If this happens, it is advisable to take a break for a few seconds to motivate your child to repent and give up on his intentions.
Finally, we remind you that the fact that your child is lying is something that happens to many young people of the same age. Also, as long as they’re harmless lies, you shouldn’t worry too much. Anyway, the above tips will be very helpful if you want your teenager to always walk hand in hand with the truth.
