Kinds of Lies

When I was a small kid, my parents taught me not to tell lies. Lying is considered as
a bad behavior because a lie is a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive
people. Although lying is often harmful, in some social situations, it is accepted. People lie
for three main reasons, from not wanting to hurt to actively trying to inflict harm.
First of all, people tell lies in social situations to avoid hurting people's feelings. For
an example, when we receive a gift from our friends. We do not like it, but we say we like it
and put it on display only for their visit. Moreover, we sometimes tell lies when reacting
our friends' appearance. We do not like their bad new haircut or unattractive new clothes.
However, we still give them compliments to avoid offending them. Besides, making
promises we can’t keep is also lying such as “I will call you back” and “I would love to come
to your party”.
The second reason why people lie is more serious because they want to avoid
responsibility. Making excuses at school is a common example. Some students say that
they forgot their homework when they did not do it. Some lie they could not finish work
because of Internet problems. Similarly, some people lie when making excuses to the
police. They say they did not realize they were speeding. They say they didn’t realize their
brake lights weren’t working when they did.
The final kind of lie is very serious because it can have extremely negative results.
For instance, some bad people tell lies to harm people. One person can have his reputation
damaged or get in trouble because of untrue stories. Cheating is another example.
Students must follow the rules when taking tests. People can’t use other people’s writing
as if it were their own, it means plagiarizing.
Clearly, people tell lies for different reasons. However, what is not so clear is how to
decide which kinds of lies are acceptable and which ones are not. Social lies may have
better intentions and less serious consequences than other types of lies, but they are still
lies. Perhaps we should all take a moment to consider how truthful we should be.