But what shall we do as we meet the lie on the lips of the child? First, as already suggested, do not wait until you meet it. Train the child to the truthful life. Second, be sure you do not make too heavy moral demands. Remember the instinct to protect himself from immediate punishment or disapprobation is stronger than any other just then. Do not ask him to do what the law says the prisoner may not do, incriminate himself. We have no right to put on our children tests harder than they can bear. Often we put those which are harder than we could face. What you will do just then depends on what you have been doing for the training of the child or youth. Do not expect him to solve problems in moral geometry if you have neglected simple addition in that realm. Punishment by the blow or the immediate sentence will be futile. The offender must know he has trespassed in a realm beyond your administration and rule; he has done more than commit an offense against you. Whatever consequences follow--such as your hesitation to accept his word--must evidently be a part of the operation of the entire moral law. Help him to see that lying strikes at the root of all social relations and would make all happy and prosperous living, all friendship, and all business impossible by destroying social confidence. Facing the crisis, do not demand more than your training gives you a right to expect. Often, instead of the direct categorical question as to guilt, we must gradually draw out a narrative of the events in question; we must patiently help the child to state the facts and to see the values of exactitudes. Without preaching or posing we must bring the events into the light of larger areas of time and circles of life, help him to see them related to all his life and to all mankind and to the very fringes of existence, to God and the eternal. That cannot be done in a moment; it is part of a habit of our own minds or it is not really done at all. At the moment we can, however, make the deepest impression by insistence on the importance of the actual, the real, the exactly true. I. References for Study E.L. Cabot, _Every Day Ethics_, chaps. xix, xx. Holt, $1.25. W.B. Forbush, _On Truth Telling_. Pamphlet. American Institute of Child Life, Philadelphia, Pa. J. Sully, _Children's Ways_, pp. 124-33. Appleton, $1.25. II. Further Reading G.S. Hall, "A Study of Children's Lies," _Educational Problems_, I, chap. vi. Appleton, $2.50. E.P. St. John, _A Genetic Study of Veracity_. Pamphlet. J. Sully, _Studies in Childhood_. E.H. Griggs, _Moral Education_. Huebsch, $1.60. III. Topics for Discussion 1. Are there degrees of lying? 2. When is a lie not a lie? 3. How can we discriminate among the statements of children? 4. How can we help them to recognize the qualities of truth? 5. In what ways are parents to blame for forcing children to protective lying?