In my new inquiry question, I want to explain what white lies are told by parents in their child’s development, why and in what cases they are told and how it impacts their development. I will talk about a few common lies that are told and the importance of them in a child’s brain. Some examples are fictional characters, such as Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. Other lies can include lies for their own safety, lies to boost their confidence, and lies to improve their nutrition. Not all white lies are bad, and most can help children learn more about dangers and risks of life, but there are still many problems that arise, such as trust problems, encouraging lying and creating unrealistic expectations.
So, what are white lies? White lies are described as a harmless or trivial lie that does not have much impact.There are small and unimportant. These lies are typically told to spare somebody’s feelings or to benefit other people.
Many white lies that are told in early childhood are very positive, as parents lie about harmless stories that keep implement magic and imagination into childhood. These lies can help children to dream big and to work hard. Other lies can improve their safety as you have to set some boundaries and limits, so that they do not hurt themselves. Some other lies can be to improve their self validation, such as complimenting their homework, art, sports performance, etc.
These lies can all be good and have key benefits, but what happens when they get too attached to the fictional characters and cannot let them go, when they realize that they are not real. What happens when the lies told about safety scare them from ever going out and experiencing life. They might not be able to get outside of their comfort zone and they need to be shielded from the reality of life. And finally, if they get a lot of compliments as kids, many things can happen. They could crave that same validation in the future and if they do not get it, they can feel worthless. They can become over-confident and project their pride and ego on others.
This is a question of interest to me as one day, around last year Christmas, I was thinking about all the negative connotations of Santa Claus. This idea of having to act “good” or “bad” when there is no possible way for children to be perfect. This idea that only “good” people are rewarded in life, which does not properly explain that people are not born bad, but rather influenced in life. And finally, the idea of Santa Claus always watching you and judging you can be a hard thought to put on children. These are negative points of view in the world. This concept got me thinking of all the other ways that parents lie to their children and how much it can affect children.
I have always been interested in early childhood and this question got be thinking about how lies are integrated into childhood and the negative affects that it can have. This question is very interesting and something that does not have a clear answer, which makes it even more intriguing.