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Woman's Hour

Why do children lie and when can it become a cause for concern?

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 3 January 2020

⏱️ 46 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Young children may know they can deceive others but their first lies are often more humorous than effective. Imagine the child who claims not to have eaten any cake while her mouth is still full, or who blames the family dog for drawing on the wall. But is lying actually an important sign other cognitive skills are also developing? As a child matures how does the nature and motivation behind lying change? And is it ever a cause for concern? Consultant child and educational psychologist, Laverne Antrobus explains.

What is it like to have to care for young children or the elderly while facing the bushfires and extreme heat in Australia? The Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria are currently being ravaged by bushfires and temperatures exceeded 40C in every state and territory at the start of the week. How do you look after the vulnerable in such a difficult situation?

On Monday’s phone-in we talked about making and breaking habits. A review of the available international research and research at the University of York looks more broadly at how science can help us understand how people makes changes to their lives . Ian Hamilton a Senior Lecturer in Addiction and Mental Health tells us more about the findings and why the impact of addiction on women is not fully understood.

In 2013 Catherine Gray was at rock bottom, feeling suicidal and drinking far too much. Six years on she has made significant life changes and completed a trio of books, the first, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, the second The Unexpected Joy of Being Single, and now, The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary. She joins Jenni to describe how she made it her mission to learn how to be default happy rather than default disgruntled.

Presenter: Jenni Murray Producer: Kirsty Starkey

Interviewed Guest: Dr Rob Gordon Interviewed Guest: Sara Lander Interviewed Guest: Calla Wahlquist Interviewed Guest: Laverne Antrobus Interviewed Guest: Ian Hamilton Interviewed Guest: Catherine Gray

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts

0:04.7

Hello, Jenny Murray welcoming you to the Woman's Hour podcast for Friday, the third of January.

0:10.3

Good morning. You may have seen a photo on our social media sent to us by the mother

0:16.0

of the picture child covered in red lipstick. He denies having played with her makeup.

0:22.8

Why do children tell lies even in the face of incontrovertible evidence?

0:28.8

Following Monday's programme on making and breaking habits, the science of addiction.

0:34.3

And Catherine Gray, who wrote about getting sober and being single on her latest book,

0:39.6

the Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary. Now as I'm sure you're aware you have heard it in the news,

0:47.1

the fires in Australia have reached horrific proportions and people in the worst affected

0:53.4

areas in the south and south east have been told they must leave their homes as

0:58.3

worse as expected this weekend. Already it's known that at least 20 people have died,

1:04.9

hundreds of homes have been destroyed and two naval warships have been picking people up

1:10.5

from the beaches near Melbourne to take them to safety. Some of the people needing help will be young

1:17.0

and fit. Others will be especially vulnerable, either children or elderly people.

1:23.3

How are they being helped when even the young and fit are terrified?

1:28.9

Well, Callowalquist is a reporter for the Guardian. Dr. Rob Gordon is a clinical psychologist who

1:35.5

advises the Red Cross and Sarah Lander lives near Sydney and has four children from four to sixteen

1:42.1

and they all join us from Australia. Sarah, what's been your experience so far of the fires and the

1:49.2

heat wave? Well, we've been relatively lucky where we are. We live surrounded by bush and we're

1:55.8

definitely in a bushfire prone area but... Hello? Sarah, hello. We seem to have lost you and let's try

2:08.4

callowalquist. Are you there? I am here. Great. We'll get Sarah back in a minute. I'm sure

2:15.3

we will. Now you're based in Melbourne. How have you been affected? Well, I spent the first three

...

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