Should we lie to children - of COURSE we should

People who say that lying to children is wrong haven't though it through.

When I found out that Father Christmas didn't exist I was devastated, as I imagine most kids are, so I imagine some people's argument would be to tell them straight from the word go to avoid future disappointment. Even though I was disppointed at the time, I got over it, like everyone does, in fact, you could argue it helps teach children how to get over disappointments in life.

Seeing the excitement on a childs face when they think Santa is squeezing himself down your chimney to deliver a sack full of presents is an experience I want my kids to have, its part of childhood. But it does mean lying to them for a good few years.

This applies to a load of situations, another common one is death. When the family pet dies, the typical story you tell children is that they're going to animal heaven, where theres lots of toys and food and they can play together forever. If you turned around and said 'Look honey, they've died like everyone does at some point so we're going to dig a hole and put them in it where they'll stay for the rest of time,' it might make you feel like you've done the moral thing, but you've probably scarred your child for life in the process.

I do agree that you can't protect children from the realities of life forever though, once they reach a certain age they're going to find out where they really came from one way or another.......

http://www.paulgraham.com/lies.html