Lying in Schools: A Modern Epidemic

“Liar, liar, pants on fire!”

Ahhhh, liars. We are all liars, and we can’t help it. Whether it is a small white lie or one that takes years to be forgiven, it happens. The surprising part is we learn it straight from our parents. As Po Bronson explains in his article “Learning to Lie”, children are just copying straight from what they see their parents do more than often. Bronson explains “By their 4th birthday, almost all kids will start experimenting with lying in order to avoid punishment”. Being a junior in highschool, I am still lying to avoid punishment. The only difference is, I am not lying about scribbling on the walls, but about grades.

A high school student’s worst nightmare is getting a test back and seeing a grade less than mastery. And not because they are disappointed with themselves, but because that is the grade their parents are going to see; that is the grade their parents are going to be disappointed in. So what is a better solution than to lie? There is none. A small white lie, about an even smaller grade, is a win-win situation for everyone. Lying about a grade is easier than 1,2,3. Instead of having your parents scream, lecture, and be mad at you, you can simply tell them you did well. It saves yourself from unnecessary stress, as well as your parents.

Po Bronson also discusses in his article “Learning to Lie” a child’s ability to extend a lie. The same test you got a bad grade on, your teacher asks if you understood the topic. You answer yes, although you clearly did not. Your teacher follows that up by asking if you studied. Another lie, “Yes, I studied.” Lying is an easy way to avoid punishment in the school system. Those simple white lies just got that student out of having to stay for extra help, although it is not a punishment per se, it is something most do not want to do.

Or, you can avoid the bad grade completely, with a lie of course. When students know they will not be prepared for a test, more often than not you see them telling teachers they will not be able to make it into school that day and they make up some ridiculous excuse. It is understandable though, it’s an easy solution. Lies like that aren’t harmful — at the end of the day, you’re doing it for your own benefit. To a point, you forget they are even lies.

On the other side of the spectrum though, students lies can get really advanced. Some students go to bizarre lengths and extremes in order to get good grades. You are assigned a powerpoint presentation to submit onto Google Classroom, one you didn’t finish on time, but you still need full credit. Why not lie and say that you had it completely finished but your computer faced a technical difficulty? You will do anything at this point to still get credit for the assignment you weren’t able to finish. You can’t let yourself be anything but above average. We have created an environment in our school system where kids now feel they will go no where unless they have a perfect GPA, which nowadays may require a few white lies.

We are taught lying is morally wrong, and it is. But from years of watching our parents tell lies, and then telling lies ourselves since we could first speak, we have become immune to it. Our education is a perfect example of how often we tell lies, just because of the mix of the immense pressure put on students everyday and the want to receive really good grades. Students have become accustomed to lying and doing morally wrong things just to do well. It is crazy the extents some students will go to keep up their perfect grades. I’ve even heard of peers lying about family members dying, or being sick in the hospital, just to get away from doing poorly on an assignment for the time being.

Since we were little we were taught if you lie, there will be consequences. The childhood tale, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” is a perfect example of this, the boy lied and faced negative consequences and was eventually eaten. This is similar to a student’s relationship with what we tell our parents about our education. Our parents need to understand their children make mistakes, especially in school. Children nowadays rely too much on the numerical grades they receive, which is a problem in itself, but our parents also need to understand that we do slip up sometimes on our work and we should be able to explain this to our parents without feeling even more stressed. If we are reminded that our parents actually do understand the pressure put on us as students, it could be a step to being honest with our parents and how we are doing in school.

In a way, lying makes sense, through lies we forget reality: an easy escape. We use lies constantly to benefit ourselves in one way or another. They are a break from the, sometimes hard, truth we need to face. Although we know lying is morally wrong, especially with something like education that is supposed to be about learning and gaining knowledge, no one is actively trying to stop it. Yes, lies are an easy escape, but an even easier escape would be to be morally good and honest with ourselves and our relationships with people. Next time you receive a bad grade on an assignment you should turn to your parents and show them your results, without the fear of them overreacting or a possible punishment.