Raising Honest Children

In the second part of our ‘Super 10 for Success’ series, we give you a comprehensive view on how to raise honest children.

- Akshaya Ganesh

At various stages in our lives, we come across forks in the path, where we need to choose between being honest (and facing the consequences) and lying (as an escape route). How have you handled such situations? How often have you chosen to be honest and braved the odds?

In the November edition of our magazine, we spoke to 27 renowned personalities across India to unlock the secrets to their success.

We asked them about the values they learnt from their parents, which helped them become successful in life. Not surprisingly, a majority of them stated that honesty and integrity were the key contributors to their success.

The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines the word ‘honest’ as ‘always telling the truth, and never stealing or cheating’. Although we’ve often heard our parents, teachers and peers tell us that honesty is the best policy, it’s never an easy path to follow.

Aparna Balasundaram, a parenting expert and co-founder of the Lighthouse Organisation, says, “Given the environment we are in today, and with access to different things, there is a temptation for children to act in ways that are not honest. That is why it is important for children to imbibe this value and adopt it in their day-to-day life.” As parents, we need to guide our children and help them embrace honesty, as it can lead to lasting peace, success and happiness. Dishonesty too can lead to success, but that will not be lasting or peaceful, and there’ll be little chance of happiness.

HONESTY AND SUCCESS