Teaching the Child to Lie.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXX, Issue XI, 14 March 1903, Page 764

Teaching the Child to Lie.

An eminent pessimist observes that lying is the one common characteri»ti< of all mankind. From his earliest infancy a child learns to lie. His parents and his companions teach him to do so, and so do nearly all the grown up persons about him. At first the lying may be innocent ;i> I without any bad intention. The little girl pretends that her doll is talking, that it is ill, that it is catching cold. This may be regarded as a form of lying, however innocent the intention.

Nearly all families, however respectable, make use of various conventional lies in daily life. The child notices this and follows the example set him. He hears his parents tell the servants to say that they are not at home when they are. He hears them compliment people to their faces and criticise them after they are gone. He hears them tell visitors how delighted they are to see them, and as soon as they are gone he learns that they were a dreadful nuisance.

Grown up people lie when children ask them questions, either because they cannot answer the questions or do not want to. or ar? ashamed to do so. By and bye he finds out that his elders were in the habit of lying to him. and he adopts the same habit himself. The child who tells all be knows in public is naturally considered a source of great embarrassment. His parents tell him that he must not tell all he knows, even that he must pretend things are not what they are. Ln order to force this behaviour on the boy for the sake of keeping up appearances he is often punished, and this, of course, impresses the lesson of lying upon him very strongly. He learns that it is impossible to live without lying.