Is it OK to lie to your children?

Even the most respectable parents have done it. When faced with a stroppy child who refuses to cooperate, nothing seems to work so effectively as a little white lie. Whether it’s threatening to leave them behind or dob them in to Father Christmas, a recent study of families in the United States and China has revealed that the overwhelming majority of parents lie to their children as a tactic to change their behaviour. But are we setting a good example?

According to a survey of 3000 parents commissioned by The Baby Website, the top 10 lies we tell our children are:

1. Father Christmas only comes to good little children (84%) 
2. Father Christmas only visits children who go to sleep (81%) 
3. Sitting too close to the TV makes your eyes go square (60%) 
4. Spinach makes you strong (48%) 
5. If you cross your eyes, the wind will change and they'll stay there (39%) 
6. An apple tree will grown in their tummies if they eat apple pips (27%) 
7. If children play with their privates too much, they will drop off (25%) 
8. The ice cream van only plays music to let children know it has run out of ice cream (22%) 
9. Eating crusts will put hair on your chest (22%) 
10.The police arrest children who swear (20%)

Whilst I am sure that most of us would not claim to have been permanently scarred by our parents’ fibs, the study, published in the International Journal of Psychology, raises the longer-term issue of the impact on families of such opportunistic approaches to the truth. It suggests it could influence family relationships as children get older and raises "important moral questions for parents about when, if ever, parental lying is justified". Are we simply teaching our children how to lie?

Sources: www.bbc.co.uk/news/education and www.dailymail.co.uk