Responding to the Lies of Your Teenager

No one has ever said that parenting teenagers is easy. That is because it isn't. There are a lot of challenges that will come with parenting teenagers and lies are often one of them. Teenagers lie for a number of reasons and dealing with them is something each parent has to figure out for themselves. However, there are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Most of us lie to keep ourselves out of trouble. It seems simple enough and we don't think about what will happen should we get caught lying.

2. We also lie to see how far the bounds really are. Lies can be used as tests, especially for parents. Teenagers may test your love, commitment, and even whether or not you will tell the truth.

3. Lies can also come because of anger. These are the hardest to deal with. Your teenager may lie because they are mad at you, their situation, or something happening in their lives.

If you have provided consequences for lying it is important that you stick with what you have already laid down. By being wishy washy in your response you are sending mixed messages and making it clear that you can be walked on. This could cause more boundary questions and your teenager could question whether or not you are serious about what you say. Always be consistent and stick with what you say. If you have said that there will be a punishment for lying then make sure that punishment happens.

Punishing teenagers is never easy. Gone are the days when you take out your belt and make it known that you are angry or that they have done something you feel is wrong. Now you have to figure out the best way to make a point. This really depends on your teenager and in many ways you. Some options include:

• Grounding. This is similar to some options, but usually refers to forcing the teenager to remain at home instead of doing more preferable activities in more preferable locations.
• Taking away privileges. This may be similar to grounding, but is usually directly related to activities that they enjoy. This could be their phone, their computer, video games, activities outside the home, or some other type of privilege.
• Forced community service. While not a common at home punishment, a lot can be learned from volunteering and it can make for a great punishment. It is important that you choose a location that is well controlled and isn't going to offer an opportunity for your teenager to get in trouble. Working with people directly can also be a bad idea due to bad attitudes, but volunteering or community service can work well.

In the Reasons Teenagers Lie section there are three main reasons that teenagers lie. All of these reasons are covering up some underlying issue or issues. The first involves covering your butt and means that your teenager is doing something wrong and therefore lying about it. The second involves testing you and the third is about anger. With all of these, you have to go beyond the single fact that your teenager is lying and address the underlying issues as well.

It has been said a million times that kids never came with a book, even though they probably should have. You will make mistakes and that is okay (after all you are only human). Take each day one at a time and remember a few things when dealing with teenagers. First of all, not all of them are going to be the same and what works for one, won't necessarily work for another. Two, honesty is the best policy. Three, you need to stick with what you say. Other then that, it is a bit of trial and error. Good Luck my friend!