Elisa Medhus, MD, author and mother of five, brings us this insightful article on teaching kids to be truthful.  Especially for those of us with younger children, they seem so honest already, that we’re hoping they don’t share something intimate with a stranger in the grocery store - we probably think we don’t need to teach them any more about honesty.  Dr. Medhus shows us how our reward and reprimand system can eventually make our children afraid of telling the truth.  She also highlights the grander social value of teaching children honesty in the face of “...decaying morality in the world....”

Kudos to Dr. Medhus for reminding us to teach our kids honesty and responsibility with tactics that will reinforce these values.  This article is written in a very parent-friendly, non-threatening tone that provides superb insight into our instinctual responses to lying or cheating.  For instance, in an example of spilled milk, Dr. Medhus suggests getting kids focused on the solution of cleaning up the milk vs. drilling them on who spilled it.  She also presents stories of her own life with five children to illustrate different options to a situation.