HHS HealthBeat (October 15, 2009)

Lie to your kids?

Tell the truth…

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Lying is a bad thing. That’s what we teach our kids.

But do we lie to our kids?

Gail Heyman of the University of California, San Diego looked at survey data on 127 parents:

[Gail Heyman speaks] ``The vast majority of parents reported that they had lied to their own children, and many reported telling many, many different lies.’’

Heyman didn’t examine all the reasons for lying, just two – influencing a child’s emotions and influencing behavior. She says parents tended to lie to make their child feel better or to get the child to do something right.

Heyman says there may be honest ways to do those jobs – which don’t weaken kids’ trust in their parents.

The study in the Journal of Moral Education was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May 7, 2011