How to Get Teen to Stop Lying

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Understanding how to get your teen to stop lying is a big concern for most parents. Teens typically start to stray from their parents as they get older and therefore trust issues start to arise. Most teens don't want their parents to be involved in their personal lives and that's what brings about the lying. That's why it is important to keep a open relationship with your teens throughout their lives. If your teen is an habitual liar, here are ten tips on how to get your teen to stop lying.

Have an open relationship with your teenager. Being open with your teen is key to stop keep them from lying. Teens who have great relationships with their parents usually don't lie and can talk about almost everything with either one of their parents.

Be sure you are being honest yourself. With a younger child you may be able to get away with telling lies and not having them notice but teenagers are a completely different story. If you are not being honest, then most likely your teenager knows this and that may be a reason for him lying.

Don't pretend like you don't know your teenager is lying to you. In doing this, you are just making the problem worse. Ignoring a problem does not make it disappear so you should confront your teen and tell them you know that they have been lying to you. Granted this is not guaranteed to make the problem better, but it's a start.

Don't belittle your teenager by continually calling her a liar. It may lower your teens self esteem level. You never know what buttons you are pushing by calling names so even if you are mad, try not to resort to name calling.

Don't be so fast to accuse them of lying. Since you are not a mind reader, you do not always know that your teen is lying to you. You may have very strong evidence against them but you should still listen to what they have to say. Listening is the best thing you can do to help your child, so try it instead of blaming them immediately.

Ask your teen what's the reason they lie. This may not work but asking never hurts anybody. You may get the truth because all they really want is for somebody to understand. You never know the reasons your teenagers lie and it may be built up frustration about something. As the Bible verse goes "Ask and it shall be given you."

Don't ask questions you know the answer to. Many parents try to ask their teens what happened in hopes that the teenager will just tell the truth. You shouldn't do this because it's giving them a chance to tell a lie. If you know without a doubt what happened, just confront them with what you know.

Give your child credit for being honest. If you show a positive reaction to your teenager when they tell the truth, this will help them to tell the truth more often. You shouldn't just brush off their honesty just because they usually lie. Award them and show them what it will be like if they always honest with you.

Let your teenager know there will be consequences for lying. When your teenager knows there will be a punishment if he's caught lying, this may make the teenager think twice before lying. If you do not set any consequences for their actions then your teen may never stop lying.

Always let your teenager know you love them. Just doing a simple thing such as telling your teen you love them can help them with their lying problem. Let them know that although they sometimes frustrate you with their lies, they always will have your love.

More Info?  www.addictions.net