How can you tell if your child is lying to you?

Teens can lie to their parents to protect your Privacy and freedom, to cover up mistakes and rule violations or even to protect others.

As a parent, your child's safety is likely your number one concern. You want to know the truth so that you can address these behavior problems, either by using substance abuse, sex, risky activities or even misdemeanors.

How can you tell if your teenager is lying to you? The bad news is that a research projects. published in 2011 shows that most of us have a fifty percent chance (at best) of detecting when someone is lying, and it is even worse when a child has had time to prepare their lie. But if you pay attention to your child's behavior when he is being false or when he is lying in situations where you know for sure, you may be able to improve those odds.

Everyone lies

Even if you have educated him to always tell the truth, lying is part of normal human behavior. Put aside the impact of your teen lying to you and accept that it will happen. Use what you remember about behavior from when you were a teenager and wanted to lie in a situation. Finding out that he is lying to you does not have to be disappointing for you, rest assured that all children lie at some point in life. Try to understand what has led him to lie and help him where you can.

Signs of lies

One of the tactics used by law enforcement is to stop a suspect from having time to think while answering your questions. This leads to more pronounced behaviors when telling a lie. Or even to contradict in your own story or lie.

The signs of lying are different for each individual. You must use your experience with your child to guide him. Pay attention and see how your teen acts when telling the truth and when lying.

• • Break: Listen to the pauses before your teen begins to answer a question, and notice the long pauses he may take during his answers. Unnatural pauses are signs that you have to think more to come up with an answer.
  • Eye contact: this is variable. Averting your gaze, looking down, or looking in a different direction can be a lie. However, some teens are able to maintain eye contact while lying. There may also be a change in the way you blink. Look for a different type of eye contact when lying compared to normal conversation.
  • Heavy breathing and dry mouth- A change in breathing and a lack of saliva is a sign of stress when making up a lie. There may also be a change in vocal quality, becoming more superficial.
  • Stillness: Because the brain is busy making up a lie, the body often becomes calmer. You may notice him calmer or less moved than normal.
  • Point and move your feet- Some people will use more emphatic hand gestures, such as pointing, when telling a lie. Although the body is usually more still than normal, it may drag the feet in an escape direction, or it may not stop moving the feet or legs (and in normal conversation it will not).
• Touching the throat or mouthThese are common signs of when they tell a lie. Protect a vulnerable area and block communication, literally.
• Details- An adolescent who lies may avoid giving details, at least when first asked, unless he has practiced his answer. You can change the story in the second narration. Asking for more details will put more pressure on your teen and may lead to more signs of cheating. On the other hand, giving too much, unsolicited detail, can be a sign of a previously planned story.

Trust, yes, but after having verified it

"Trust, but verify" It can be a good tactic when you want to make sure your teen is telling the truth and not covering up a behavior. Ask him for things you can verify, always keeping in mind that your chances of detecting a lie are little better than chance, according to another study published in Journals Sagepub.

Make it easy for your teenager to tell you the truth. Reassure your child that he is safe from punishment if he tells you the truth so that you can solve problems together. And don't break the promise.