Why do Indian kids lie to their parents? It's an age old question that I have asked myself ever since I first lied to my parents over some trivial matter that I can't even seem to remember now. And before you judge me, I want you to think long and hard about the last time you lied to your parents. It does not have to be something major- just anything like maybe your tests scores or that you bunked a class for a movie. I'm pretty sure you'll think of one. If you can't, then either you've got some really cool parents or you're just lying, you compulsive liar.
So why do we lie to them?
I have thought about it a lot and I could think of two reasons- they care for us, they're our
parents after all and that they don't trust us. While the first reason I totally understand, it is the second reason that makes them go OTT- they don't trust us with our decisions, our choices, our friends, our dressing- you name it.
I mean how many of you have told your parents you drink? Or have got a boyfriend/girlfriend? Or you're going out for a movie and not a "group study"? I'm guessing not quite a lot. So what does it stem from? The lack of trust. Because no matter how much they try to stress on the fact that they're your "friends" (apparently it is a tactic that most parents use) they will never be able to digest the fact that you drink or are dating someone because obviously "log kya kahenge" and of course the fact that they look at every friend of yours as a drug addict or a potential rapist or good for nothing in plain old simple words. So what does a poor kid do? He or she lies.
Because he was looking for a friend in the first place in his parents but unfortunately he got lost in their judgments.
A kid learns everything from his parents but as he grows up instead of explaining him stuff, he's simply shushed and if you dare to ask why- "because we say so" comes the reply.
Sometimes I think they're a part of the problem themselves. How else do you explain your parents asking you to fetch a glass of water or switching the channels when an intimate scene approaches? Avoiding it instead of addressing the issue with a teenager with raging hormones kind of is the reason why we have so many uninformed pre- adults in the country. Or how do you explain your parents subtly telling you to avoid mixing with people of the opposite sex as you grow up? That makes them a part of the problem. Instead of dousing their curiosity, you're only igniting it further. So of course you're gonna create liars!
And it is sad, because when I read my news feed these days with articles of teenage pregnancies, kids lying about their whereabouts etc etc, it makes me cringe. Because maybe, just MAYBE a parent had guided them in their actions instead of a peer, they would have been better off.
