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Lies Our Parents Told Us

Parents tell lies. Everyone does in fact, however should our parents be the ones who tell us the lies? Our parents are our role models, the people we look up to. Do we learn our lies from our parents, are our parents the ultimate keepers of lies?

Parents are the best ones to spread lies, they tell their children, the children tell their children, and so on. The path of the lie can go on for generations such as the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and monsters. Parents tell lies so that they can manipulate their children, teach their children, and to have fun with their children. It cannot be denied that parents manipulate their children. Kids can be vicious, rambunctious, cute, and gullible. To take advantage of a child's viciousness and rambunctious behaviors the parent needs to take advantage of the fact that a child is gullible. Parents manipulate their children with the simplest lies, for example Santa Claus. Santa Claus gives presents to good kids, and coal to bad kids. Parents will tell their child, "You better be a good boy or Santa Claus will not give you any presents." This lie tells the child to be a good kid or you won't get anything, and thus the child will be a "good" kid. This manipulation helps the parent to control the child, whenever the child acts up then the parent will use the Santa Claus lie again, and again.

Parents use lies to teach their children morals and facts. "The Boy who cried wolf." This is more of a story then a lie, however let us use this story to support the argument. The "Boy Who Cried Wolf" is a story that talks about a child who lies all the time about almost everything. Then, when the boy is finally actually in trouble he tries to tell his parents that there really is a wolf, but they do not believe him. Thus, because the child lied, the wolf ate him. This "story" or "lie" is created by a parent to teach their children not to lie or you will pay for it. Perhaps this lie was even created by parents generations ago.

Parents love to have fun with their children. The tooth fairy, catching the Easter bunny, and so on are perfect examples of fun lies. When a child hears that his/her tooth can be redeemed for money they get ecstatic and in fact happy to lose teeth. On Easter, children love to stay up and try to catch the Easter Bunny. These lies have no visible purpose other then to have fun with the child.

Parents tell lies to manipulate their children, teach their children, and to have fun with their children. I remember, my parents used to tell me the funniest and craziest lies all the time. Now I am too old to believe them, but it is amazing to see the effect these lies have on a gullible 5-year-old. Lies have many uses, some good and some bad. The key though is to realize which lies are actually good and are actually bad.