It's a long article in New York Magazine, but a fascinating read and well worth it. The piece is an in-depth look at research done on what kids lie about, why they lie, and how best to stop them.

I found it interesting that children can often start lying as early as two. Some tell parents to just ignore the lies, that they will grow out of it; turns out the research shows just the opposite - they grow into it. It also showed that kids witness so many white lies and were asked to tell so many white lies that deception really became a daily activity. There were a lot of helpful ideas based on the research for how to address the issue.

The article was jam-packed with great information, but the one piece of research that stuck out the most for me was a test where the child had done something the experimenter asked them not to do--67% of the kids disobeyed and of those, 98% of them lied about doing it. But here's the interesting part, with the same situation presented the child was read either the Boy Who Cried Wolf or George Washington and the Cherry Tree (both stories that deal with the issue of lying and their ramifications) before they were asked if they had disobeyed. After hearing the moral of the story fewer children lied, but you might be surprised which story worked better. The George Washington one was far more effective--the moral of that is that it is important to teach your children about the benefits and importance of honesty, not just tell them that lying is wrong.

Hope you'll check out the piece, I can't do it justice. Just remember that our kids grow up to be tomorrow's politicians, CEO's and so on and the consequences of lying only increase with age, not just for the person who tells the lie, but for society as a whole. Being a good Citizenhunter means voting and making a difference in your community, but it also means strong families. I started the Work at Home Mom Section because, though I am not a mother myself, I have 5 younger siblings and I think there is no greater service to the world than rearing children who are CitizenHunters in training to leave this world better than they came into it.