A parent that suspects his or her child is being dishonest may be reluctant to admit this is the case. Even when you are not hesitant to admit that your child is not telling the truth, you may not be sure how to handle this but children need parental guidance. Lying is a typical child behavior but do you confront your child or let it go?
A parent who was struggling with this issue wrote the Washington Post seeking guidance and the response given might give you some food for thought about what to do if you think your child has been dishonest.
In "Teen traces art and accepts praise, " a parent wrote in to talk about how she discovered that her artistic daughter was passing off artwork she had traced as her own. The parent made some discoveries that pointed to the artwork not being original and was bothered that the daughter had shown it to a number of family members and friends, telling them it was her own work. When asked, the daughter denied faking the art and quickly covered her tracks.
Columnist Marguerite Kelly responded that while many artists and illustrators do copy and trace, they are up front when they do so. She pointed out that now is the time to impress the importance of honesty upon the daughter but that it must be done in a sensitive way. The 13-year-old is getting praise for work she didn't do when she could get praise for her own creations. She would also suffer a heavy emotional blow if some of her family and friends realized the work wasn't hers and lost faith in her.
Kelly wrote: "You probably can make your daughter tell the truth if you have a heart-to-heart talk with her. But have it in the dark, so she won’t have to look you in the eye…" She also advised asking the daughter why she did it and not if she did it.
