If your child is a frequent liar and you have tried all the traditional methods of advice and guidance without success, we offer you 15 ideas for treating children’s lying. These ideas were presented by some participants in a workshop in Bahrain to discuss lying in children.
Some of these ideas may be unconventional or unappealing, but they were intended to spark thinking among the members. Some of the ideas presented were:
15 ideas for treating children’s lying
- Punishing the child by not buying what they want and linking it to their lying.
- “Donating a portion of their pocket money every time they lie or contributing to the household expenses from their allowance.
- “Hanging pictures of the child upside down in their room every time they lie.
- “Painting the child’s nails blue every time they lie, and coloring one finger or nail.
- “Forcing the child to eat something they don’t like and putting it in their mouth every time they lie.
- “Designating a yellow or red outfit called the “lying outfit,” which the child wears every time they lie to embarrass themselves.
- “Cutting a very small part of the child’s hair every time they lie, so they worry about their hair and don’t lie again.
- “The idea of overturned cups in the living room, where we put colored cups and flip one every time the child lies.
- “Using a loud and annoying whistle every time the child lies, so everyone knows there is a liar.
- “A candy and chocolate box, where the child takes one if they are honest in their talk.
- “A star chart placed in the child’s room, where we erase a star every time they lie, so they value the stars and keep them by not lying.
- “Punishment by standing alone on the wall or jumping 20 times.
- “One of the funny ideas suggested by a participant was to make the child smell something they dislike.
- “Designing a half-meter-long rope, and every time the child lies, we tie another rope to it to see how long the rope will be in the end.
- “Punishing the child by making them stay silent for a quarter or half an hour every time they lie.
,In the end
We presented 15 unconventional ideas for treating children’s lying, which were discussed in the workshop. It is essential for children to understand that lying is a bad habit that displeases Allah and His Messenger, and that there is no such thing as white or black lies.
“Lying is only permissible in three cases: during war because war is deceit, and to reconcile between spouses or to reconcile between disputants. Other than that, lying is not permissible under any circumstances, no matter what the consequences may be. Honesty is the best policy.
