Mandy: Is it ever OK to lie to a child? My 8-year-old son likes playing soccer, but he's not very good at it. Yesterday he played badly on the school team. When he finished the game he asked me, "Am I a bad player?" I said, "Of course not! You've played well!" Did I do the right thing?

Emma: Yes, you did the right thing. White lies are a necessary part of life. Sometimes you have to tell lies that hurt nobody. You just wanted to make him feel good.

Bobo @ Emma: I don't think there is ever a good reason to lie to our children. Children learn honesty from the examples they see. As the first teachers, we parents should always be honest in order to teach our children to be honest, too. If you keep hiding truth(真相) from them and they find the fact in the future, they will not believe you anymore. I believe honesty is the first step to a good parent-child relationship.

Ruby: You lied to make your son feel better, but you missed a good chance to teach him how to face difficulties in our life. People should work hard for what they want. Maybe next time you can say, "Sorry, dear, I'm afraid not. But we can practice more, because great soccer players practice a lot." 'The truth will make him stronger.

Alex @ Ruby: Agree. Parents should be honest to their children. Yet, sometimes we don't need to be so direct. Or we can let our kid talk about his feeling first. If I were you @ Mandy, I would ask my son "What do you think?" first. Then he will tell you his thoughts. In that way, everything you say is true, and you can also avoid hurting him.