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Teen Lies Straight From The Source: Lies I’ve Told My Parents And More

For better or worse, lying is part of our daily existence, and teens tend to do so with some frequency. Many times, the lies are white lies. Sometimes, teens lie because they don’t want to hurt someone they respect. And then there are times when they don’t have the courage to tell the truth. Regardless of the motive, one thing that most teens who tell lies have in common is regret. What follows is a sampling of lies teens have told to their parents, teachers, and friends.

Lies Teens Have Told:

I lied to my mom and I felt horrible

“When I was 15 years old, my mom and I went to a small jewelry store in Idaho. We looked around, and this one jewel caught my eye. I wanted to buy it, but my mom wouldn’t let me no matter how much I begged. It was so pretty! As the clerk turned her head, I slipped it into my pocket. My mom found it in my pants pocket while she was doing laundry. I lied, and said my friend gave it to me. Later, I felt so guilty that I threw it away.”

— Ellen from Cleveland, Ohio

I cheated on a test

“In math class one day, we had a big test on trigonometric functions. There were SO many properties and identities to memorize, and I couldn’t possibly be expected to remember all of them. In a last minute flurry, I wrote the equations on my calculator. I looked at them during the test, and I ended up getting 100%. My teacher made a big deal out of the high score; she was so happy for me. The false success felt horrible.”

— Cory from Santa Barbara, California

I cheated on my girlfriend

“I had a girlfriend for over 6 months, and I promised her that I had feelings for her and only her. Meanwhile, I developed feelings for her best friend—a very funny, smart girl. My girlfriend began to notice and confronted me, telling me that she felt like I liked her best friend more than her. I began going out with her best friend, lying to my girlfriend everyday. She eventually caught me and ended our relationship. I live with regret for how I treated her, because I lost someone I love, as well as my best friend.”

— Sam from New York City

I’ll never cheat in Chinese again

“Last year, I decided to go out of my comfort zone and take Chinese, but what I did not know/what I was not prepared for was that it would be online. Chinese is hard enough to learn in person, but Chinese online is ten times harder. My teacher was very difficult to get a hold of and wasn’t very helpful when I could find her. One time, I had a really hard time learning a lesson and the teacher wasn’t being helpful, so when I had to take the weekly quiz, I took it with my Chinese textbook open in front of me. I felt awful afterwards and vowed to never cheat in Chinese again (or any subject.)”

— Gigi from Seattle, Washington

I don’t actually have a boyfriend

“I am a tour guide at my school, meaning that I take prospective families around the building, and answer any questions they have about what it might be like to go here. Since I go to an all girls school, a lot of parents ask me, “Do you know any boys?” Every time, I lie and tell them that I have a boyfriend and hundreds of guy friends. I make up elaborate stories about my boyfriend and his various activities. In reality, I haven’t talked to a guy in months!”

— Grace from New York, New York

I Lied to my parents about where we were going

“When I was on vacation in Canada, I decided it would be a good idea to go off in a boat with my sister and our friends without telling any of our parents. About 15 minutes in, we thought about it and called our parents. We told them that we were on a boat in the middle of the lake, and that we’d be back in an hour. We didn’t tell our parents until after we had already done it. They were angry at us, and my mom doesn’t trust me anymore.”

Kayla from Boston, Massachusetts

I told my mom I was going to a friend’s house and went somewhere else

“It was a Saturday night. There was a boy I’d been talking to for awhile. From previous experience, I knew my parents would never let me go out with him alone. I lied, and said I was going out with my friend, Sarah. Instead, I picked him up from his house, and we went out to dinner. I thought I got away with it, but about two weeks later, my mom confronted me about. I didn’t know what to say, so I lied and told her she was crazy. But it still confuses me to this day—how did she know?!”

— Cammie from Cleveland, Ohio

So what should you do if you catch them in the lie?

I almost cheated on the SAT

“I didn’t study at all for the SAT. When it came to the math section, I ran out of time. When the writing section began, I quickly flipped back to the math section because I wanted a few more minutes. A boy next to me saw me, and he glared at me. My heart started to beat quickly, and I wanted to cry. For the next two weeks, I lived in fear that the boy sitting next to had talked to the SAT proctors. He didn’t. I’m taking the test again in June, and I know I won’t make the same mistake again!”

— Lucy from San Mateo, California

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