I (26M) work at an elementary school. Over the summer, I broke my leg while out hiking. I had surgery and am on the mend. Naturally, my students are all curious about my injury. In my years of working at a camp, I developed a strong “lying to kids” habit. So, whenever my students ask how I broke my leg, I tell them a different, outlandish, obviously untrue lie about how I broke it. I’ve told kids it’s because I didn’t eat my veggies, didn’t tie my shoes, went skydiving, fell off a bull at a rodeo, etc. I have a lot of fun with it. The kids seem to enjoy the stories and come up with their own about how I broke it.
My mom hates that I do this. She thinks I’m causing some irreversible harm to them by lying to them this way. I’m just having fun, and I don’t see how this could harm the kids. I’m telling age appropriate stories. AITA for lying to kids?
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I (26M) work at an elementary school. Over the summer, I broke my leg while out hiking. I had surgery and am on the mend. Naturally, my students are all curious about my injury. In my years of working at a camp, I developed a strong “lying to kids” habit. So, whenever my students ask how I broke my leg, I tell them a different, outlandish, obviously untrue lie about how I broke it. I’ve told kids it’s because I didn’t eat my veggies, didn’t tie my shoes, went skydiving, fell off a bull at a rodeo, etc. I have a lot of fun with it. The kids seem to enjoy the stories and come up with their own about how I broke it.
My mom hates that I do this. She thinks I’m causing some irreversible harm to them by lying to them this way. I’m just having fun, and I don’t see how this could harm the kids. I’m telling age appropriate stories. AITA for lying to kids?
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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I might be the asshole for lying to kids and making them think I broke my leg in a much cooler way than I actually did. The kids might not trust me anymore after this? I don’t know.
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Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.
NTA – the kids know you’re being silly and enjoy it
NTA only if they can tell that you are lying. Kids will believe anything and it’s uncool for them to think that their legs will break if they do not eat veggies.
Kids are not idiots and they’re clearly having fun with it too. And even if it was real lies instead of jokes (as it’s not a lie if you are not trying to make them believe the crazy stories), how could they “cause harm” exactly? I hate this new vocabulary people use now. It’s not “harm”. Saying that jokes are “harmful” is the real lie and it could actually be harmful to kids that will believe it.
NTA – I’ve done the same thing, also from working at camps in the past. It’s just a silly joke about something they don’t need to know anyway.
My favorite story was probably the ten-minute tall tale involving rescuing a knight from a dragon.
It seems like the kids know you’re making things up and are in on the joke. NTA.
NTA. Your mom is being way too dramatic.
You’re not lying to them; you’re building rapport and a sense of humor. The kids know you’re joking and are having fun with it. This is exactly the kind of story they’ll remember about you.
NTA If you’re always telling a different outlandish story, they know it’s a lie. They just like hearing what new story you have for them next. I’m guessing your mom doesn’t work with young kids.
> The kids seem to enjoy the stories and come up with their own about how I broke it.
This seems to imply that they know you are just kidding and having fun with them.
NTA
The kids seem to get the “tall tale” aspect of it. NTA
NTA. If they actually believed you were telling the truth YWBTA but something that everyone understands is a joke is not a lie. Plus, the kids coming up with their own stories probably helps their creative minds! Assign them a creative writing project on how you broke your leg lol
You’re NTA given that everyone is in on the gag. Things like this make students more engaged. Teachers have a tough job getting through to kids sometimes and things like this help. Keep up the stories. You sound like a good teacher.
NTA I do this with my students. They eat it up. I even get my colleagues in on it.
Lol! NTA
NTA. Did your mom never tell you about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy?
Miss Dixie Longate tells it this way, a story is always better with a tiger in it. Tell ya mama to go eat a moonpie. NTA
The kids know you are being silly and you are protecting your boundary of privacy – in an age appropriate way
Nta!
Tell them you were working on a fishing boat, and slipped on some algae during a bad storm! Lol
Nta.
NTA. Obviously the kids know you’re joking, and they enjoy having that camaraderie and rapport with you.
NTA. I did this in high school, telling my teachers and classmates that I broke my ankle saving a kitten from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Every time someone asked about it, the story was expanded upon and got more outlandish.
NTA. Kids need to play to develop into healthy people, what you’re doing is showing them that adults can still “do play”, that there’s no stigma against play.
NTA this is just imaginative play. Creating stories is essential to developing a healthy imagination.
NTA – my kid has stitches this summer. I told him to tell everyone it happened while fighting a bear and we ate it for dinner. He refuses to lie smh. Could’ve been a legendary story like yours.
When my son was eleven he had to have an Ilizarov frame fitted to his foot and lower leg (an external fixator frame which involved lots of hardware around his leg, plus metal rods going in one side of his leg and out the other, fixed to the external hardware). It left him with at least thirty scars on his lower leg.
Every time anyone asks him about the scars he tells them a different story. My favourite (and I suspect his) is that he was attacked by a shark while swimming in the sea and managed to fight it off by punching it on the nose.
So long as the children you’re working with understand that you’re telling them tall tales I don’t see the harm in it. It gives you all something to laugh at, it keeps the tone light.
I have a visible scar from emergency brain surgery. I have had people (mainly adults) interrupt me in restaurants to ask me what it was… I always make something up. Bitten by a tiny shark, grenade fragment from when I was in the army, got hit by a Kikuchi fastball while crossing the street, etc. I figure nobody else has the “right” to know about my medical history, and if they are rude enough to interrupt a meal, I’ll tell an obvious lie.
ETA; Oh, NTA.
Well, your mom is wrong because those answers are amazing.
I’ve had a tattoo on my shoulder for nearly 30 years that has an initial on it. Since it’s no one’s business what the initial actually means, I make up a different word/story every time someone asks.
NTA, I had a friend who had one leg amputated as a kid. He also lied to everyone, not just kids, who asked why he was missing a leg. It’s a kinder way to respond to invasive questions from people you don’t want to disclose personal information to.
Dude, no. This is classic camp counselor energy and it rules. You’re not gaslighting them, you’re building a bit. Let the kids have fun with it
Nta. My neice and I are working on differentiating a tall tale and a lie. The way I explained it is a tall tale is a story told for the enjoyment of the audience (ie auntie is a mermaid as i show her halloween makeup from years ago) a lie is told to cover something up or hurt someone.
NTA, but….It doesn’t sound great that ‘I developed a lying to kids habit’.
Maybe it’s time to question why and how often and at what price.
I mean it seems harmless/fun to make up funny stories when given they’re elementary kids, they’re asking like a kid out of curiousity (what’s that, why), so they’re fine to hear a tall tale, they laugh, and all good. I don’t know any studies on trust dynamic at that age, or what it might do if you keep making up stories, they might not know when somethign is true or a ‘lie’. Also, maybe some kid really cares and will be left feeling like you don’t value his true desire to show kindness and interest in your broken leg.
I don’t think there’s harm like your mom says…but you may want to look a little into the teacher/kid trust dymanic at those ages and who you may be overlooking when it comes to empathy and true desire to bond.
NTA.
It’s not a lie. It’s a tall story. Key difference, everyone knows it’s not true.
NTA, you telling outlandish stories to the kids can only improve/ help with their imagination
nta and I had a teacher like you and I appreciated his humor. He was one of the faves. Adults take adults too seriously.. kids get a crack out of of fun/outlandish stuff
Keep doing it. You’re entertaining them.
They’re used to this format. It’s called “two truths and a lie” and it’s everywhere.
Mom needs to join the century.
PS: I know the truth: Happened on your way back from Oz.
I made a career telling stories that were sometimes true and sometimes false. I just retired after 33 years teaching. Good times
I don’t want to give a judgment, but I do want to mention, try to avoid morality tales. Like, I was a kid who BELIEVED adults (was super naive and gullible). If you had told me you broke your leg by not eating veggies, I would have gone home and eaten a head of lettuce. Hopefully none of the kids are as foolish as me, but you get what I mean: the veggie tale is fine, but don’t whip out something like, “It broke because I told a lie”. Some kids take that to heart and develop a ton of anxiety.