Some 96% of kids lie. Four-year-olds lie once every two hours, while six-year-olds lie once every hour, according to NurtureShock. The book examines research to find children typically grow up believing that any type of deception is wrong, and slowly learn that some types — such as white lies — are acceptable.
Children tend to have a hard time understanding the concept of lies. For instance, 38% of five-year-olds believe profanity is a lie because they connect lies with punishment and swearing gets them in trouble. Furthermore, young kids often consider an honest mistake a lie since, to them, the only thing that matters is that the information is wrong.
The age of a child impacts why and how they lie. Kids first start telling lies to avoid punishment. Toddlers will lie frequently and blatantly, whereas those around age six will lie only if they think they can get away with it.
Once children enter school their lies become more complex and are used as a way to increase power among peers. At age 11, they begin to understand that lies can hurt others.
If kids are still frequently lying by age seven — and getting away with it — they are likely to be liars for life.
Source: NurtureShock, Grand Central Publishing, 2009, Ashley Merryman, Author, akmerryman@aol.com; www.nutureshock.com.
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