Honesty
(Kindergarten Level)

Purpose: By the end of this session, I want my students to desire honesty. 

Other resources:  

• Great article on honesty: http://character-education.info/Articles/Honesty_Urban.htm 
• Great article on moral absolutes: http://character-education.info/Articles/Sommers.pdf 

Teaching Hints: 

• Students want to know how you've struggled with honesty. Think through your own life experiences. How did a romantic relationship go sour because of dishonesty? Have family members, co-workers, employers, or friends hurt you with dishonesty? Have you seen someone fail because of their dishonesty? How has being less than honest hurt you? How has your honesty helped you? 
• Sprinkle one or more of these personal stories into your lesson. You'll find that as you share personally, your students will reflect and share their own life lessons about honesty.

1. What is Honesty?

Discussion: What is lying? What is honesty? (Put the elements on the board as they share.) Your resulting definition might look something like this:  

"Honesty means telling the truth rather than lying or deceiving."

2. Why do People Lie?

Brainstorm: Why do people lie? (Get them to discuss. Below are some reasons they may suggest.)

• It's a handy way of getting out of trouble quickly. (Give an example)
• Telling tall tales makes for interesting conversation.  (Give an Example)

Transition: Those are some reasons that we lie. Now let's look at the trouble lying brings. 

(Leader: Above we engaged student's minds to help them understand honesty. In the next points, we're attempting to engage their emotions to help them desire honesty. We're doing this by helping them realize how much they hate being lied to.)

3. How Does Lying Hurt People?

a. Lying Keeps People From Believing Us

Story: Stevie the Story Teller

Stevie liked being the center of attention. At recess he got people's attention by kicking the soccer ball farther or running faster than others. During lunch he made people laugh by telling jokes. 

But the day after Thanksgiving break, he didn't get much attention. Everyone told about their Thanksgiving vacations.  Suzie amazed everyone with slides from her trip to Alaska. 

"I rowed a boat on the icy Yukon River" she said. "I caught big fish and rode snowmobiles." 

Everyone was amazed. But Stevie wanted everyone to be  amazed at him.

So when Stevie's turn came, he told about a fantastic trip to the Amazon rain forest. 

"I swung on vines," Stevie said with an adventurous twinkle in his eyes.  "I ate bananas with a Gorilla in a tall tree. I barely escaped being eaten by Piranhas, those dangerous fish with razor-sharp teeth. But Tarzan swung down on a vine and saved me at the last second."

His teacher had a puzzled look on her face. "Tarzan isn't real," she said. "He's just in books and movies."

Stevie's face turned red. "Well...he looked like Tarzan," he said. 

Stevie's teacher called his parents and found out they really didn't take a vacation to the Amazon rain forest. He had lied. Stevie had to tell the class that he'd made it all up. After that, people had a hard time believing Stevie. 

So after Christmas, everyone had more exciting stories to tell. Stevie told about his trip to Hawaii. 

"I climbed a volcano and saw molten lava," Stevie said. "Then we went to the beach. The waves were huge and I even tried to surf." 

"Sure," said his classmates. "You have a great imagination! Did you surf all the way back home over the ocean? Did you fall into the volcano and climb back out alive?" they joked. Everyone started laughing. Stevie hung his head in shame. Nobody believed him.

But his teacher interrupted. "Class, I know Stevie's told some tall tales before, but this tale is true. His parents knew you might have a hard time believing him, so they sent me these pictures of their trip to Hawaii, complete with the Volcano, and Stevie trying to surf. But I hope we've all learned a lesson here."

Stevie raised his hand to answer. "If you lie once, it's hard for people to believe you, even when you're telling the truth." 

Discussion Questions

1) Why did Stevie lie?
2) How do you think Stevie felt when he got caught lying?
3) How do you think he felt when nobody believed his Hawaii story?
4) What can we learn from this story? 

b. Lying Hurts People.

Ask, "do you remember a time when someone lied to you?  (Leader can tell some of these times as well.) How does it feel when people lie to you? (Leader can share as well.)

If lying hurts people, then we shouldn't lie. 

Conclusion

Sometimes, lying looks like the easiest thing to do. But it hurts others. And when nobody believes us anymore, it hurts us. This week, let’s try to tell the truth, even when it’s not the easiest thing to do.  

(Optional Activity)

Draw a picture from the story, "Stevie the Story-Teller." As students complete their drawing, let them tell about it.