How concerning is this for a 10 year old boy? Video game addiction and pathological lying

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you piling on your nephew, OP? You are being a bully. You're his aunt. He can tell that you do not like him at all. Kids know. Stop being a jerk.

I don’t tolerate pathological lying. It’s really hurtful and so alarming. This isn’t a 17 year old lying about curfew it’s a little boy with elaborate lies to not go to school or sports to play a video game.

Is it pathological? I don't think it is. Everyone lies and I'm sure you do too. You lie to protect yourself ( of course I mailed the check!) or I didn't eat the last piece of candy! We are talking about kids not killers. Calm the f down. Op isn't even the mom/dad!

I'm the pp and I found this article. Seems that there is disagreement.

https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/why-do-children-lie-normal-compulsive-pathological-lying-in-kids-0107197

This article is talking about one's own child. Not a kid who is not yours at your house for a few days while his parents are away.

My kids are really well behaved and I believe that to be the luck of the draw. I would love to (and do) host my younger, rowdy nephew, come what may... and I would never diagnose him and raise red flags for this behavior, especially, when his diet, sleep, routine, etc is off. It's just so ungracious and gross.

Why the eye roll? So it is specific to this case but still interesting is it not?

Not specific, I meant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you piling on your nephew, OP? You are being a bully. You're his aunt. He can tell that you do not like him at all. Kids know. Stop being a jerk.

I don’t tolerate pathological lying. It’s really hurtful and so alarming. This isn’t a 17 year old lying about curfew it’s a little boy with elaborate lies to not go to school or sports to play a video game.

Is it pathological? I don't think it is. Everyone lies and I'm sure you do too. You lie to protect yourself ( of course I mailed the check!) or I didn't eat the last piece of candy! We are talking about kids not killers. Calm the f down. Op isn't even the mom/dad!

I'm the pp and I found this article. Seems that there is disagreement.

https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/why-do-children-lie-normal-compulsive-pathological-lying-in-kids-0107197

This article is talking about one's own child. Not a kid who is not yours at your house for a few days while his parents are away.

My kids are really well behaved and I believe that to be the luck of the draw. I would love to (and do) host my younger, rowdy nephew, come what may... and I would never diagnose him and raise red flags for this behavior, especially, when his diet, sleep, routine, etc is off. It's just so ungracious and gross.

Why the eye roll? So it is specific to this case but still interesting is it not?

Not specific, I meant

No, the article is not interesting. It’s click bait by a writer with only a BA. I’m not sure why you’re parading it as high authority on abnormal childhood behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An elementary school boy casually lying to adults is not normal or acceptable behavior.

Lol. Can’t wait until you have teenagers.

[Anonymous]

My rule with my son was that when the game playing became annoying to me - arguing about how long to play, wanting to do it instead of other stuff, et.. wifi was shut off or the game was put in the garage. Then he needed to earn it back. You could tell your nephew if the 30 minutes and going to school etc.. isn't done the game is off limits for the rest of the week. I would have no problem saying that to any of my nieces or nephews

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An elementary school boy casually lying to adults is not normal or acceptable behavior.

Lol. Can’t wait until you have teenagers.

OP has two perfect teenage daughters who never lie about anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, jumping straight to "pathological lying and video game addiction" is pretty overdramatic, don't you think?

Didn't any of you guys love Ferris Bueller? All kids like to daydream about skipping school. He's 10 and testing boundaries and trying to be cool while he talks to his friends. Lying to your face about being sick is wrong of course, but it's such a bad attempt that it's almost laughable. And it's still within the realm of what 10 year olds do IMO. The more important thing is if this is a phase or if it gets worse with time, and that's for his parents to deal with.

OP, you just worry about what goes on in your house, and all the PPs gave good advice about being "too sick for screens" and having to have crappy chicken soup while everyone else has pizza. Unplug the consoles if you have to. Then just tell his parents everything, and let them deal with it.

I hope some day you'll look back at this with your nephew and laugh together. Don't immediately write him off because he's acting like a sassy 10 year old.

PS - And I won't even touch on the "I only have teenage girls so I never experienced this" crap. I have known PLENTY of teenage girls who lied to their parents to do something they weren't allowed to do.

Ferris was an 18 year old high school senior. 10 year old boys are in 4th grade.

So it's ok when an 18 year old senior lies to get out of school but not when a 10 year old does? If anything, a 10 year old lying should be MORE acceptable because they are still immature and learning about boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normal behavior. My kids say they are sick all the time to try and get more screen time, but you have to hold fast to the rules! Kids test boundaries at this age, it’s normal and expected. They aren’t monsters, and are probably missing their parents and normal routine as well. Relax on the dramatic language.

Faking a flu-like illness and then faking a sports injury with elaborate lying is normal at age 10?

Yes! That's exactly what we're saying