Why do teenagers lie to their parents?

Answer 1

fear, peer presure,don`t wanna be guilty in there parents eyes

Answer 2

I know when I was a teenager (can't quite yet say I'm not), I was ready for responsibility, and I was tired of all the questions my parents, especially my mother, would give me. They seemed to always be prying into my personal life, and I wanted to feel like they trusted me a little bit more. That's half of why I lied to them.

The other reason was because I wanted to see how much I could get away with. I guess this shows how much a teenager is still a child, testing his or her limits. They're getting older and they know they have more responsibilities and privileges, so they need to test how far these new things will go.

The teenage years are not called "awkward" for anything. I think lying is just another way teenagers try to feel their way into adulthood. Saying that doesn't mean that I'm condoning the lying by any means; I'm just trying to make it a little more understandable.

Answer 3

If your son/daughter came to you and asked if he/she could go to a party and you asked if there would be drinking there and they said yes, you probably wouldn't let them go. Even if you don't think they would drink. Teenagers need to learn from their own mistakes and sometimes the only way they can do that is by lying.

Example:
One time I went to a party where there was drinking and drugs. While I was there, I had to make my own decisions about whether or not to try those things. I was the only one who didn't drink and one of the ones who didn't do drugs. From that, I learned that people won't pressure me to do things I don't want to do and it made me feel stronger because instead of drinking, I went and took my anti-depressant medicine because I knew that once I had taken that, I couldn't drink alcohol. Also, those of us who didn't do drugs got together and talked about how stupid the rest of them were. If I had told my parents what was going on there, I wouldn't have been able to go.

The moral of the story:
If teens don't lie, they won't get as much freedom.
If they don't have freedom, they can't make their own decisions.
If they can't make their own decisions, they can't learn from their mistakes.

I'm not saying all lying is okay, but sometimes it is.

P.S. Sometimes what parents think are lies are really the truth. Keep that in mind.

Answer 4

Many parents can be too judgemental, too controlling, or too invasive to actually gain their teenager's trust. So when a teen might want to go to a party, the parents might normally say "No", and then teens end up having to lie in order not to upset their parents or get in trouble.

Answer 5

because there are so many things about me that I wouldn't want my parents to know... so many mistakes I've made... it seems like I don't have a choice but to lie to my parents. I'm 18 now so I'm almost through these stupid teenage years... but if my parents knew about all the crap I did when I was younger... I don't think they'd want to be around me anymore! Hope this helped&good luck!

Answer 6

Because they're at an age where they feel that their parents don't understand them, so they don't bother talking to them. Rather than go through the trouble of trying to make the parents understand, they just opt to lie to their parents hoping not to get caught.

Answer 7

As a teenager, I think that teenagers lie to their parents because they feel held down as though their parents don't trust them. If their parents were trustworthy, patient, and more reliable, our world wouldn't be such a chaotic, immature, and insane waste of land that it is....

Answer 8

They usually feel their parents are judgemental and jump to conclusions. A lot of teenagers don't feel comfortable speaking openingly with parents because the parents reaction is seen as irrational.

Answer 9

Rite of passage. They have to "separate" in order to feel like their own person, and unfortunately, this usually involves doing at least a few things that the parents would prefer they did not ... that's where the lying comes in.

Answer 10

I think that could be considered a logical fallacy.....I don't lie to my parents!

But yeah, probably fear of getting into trouble or something.

Answer 11

I dont lie to my parents..but maybe it is because they dont want to get in trouble or if they tell their parents the truth...as in where are they really going...they dont want their parents to say no to them