Neill (1960) said that never in the 40 years of work at Summerhill had he liedto a child.
According to Neill (1960), lying teachers will produce lying students. As aresult, Neill's perceptions on lying can be summarized in the following excerpts(Summerhill, 1960):
"The adult who lies to children - lies even by indirect means - is he orshe who has no real understanding of the child. Hence our whole educationalsystem is full of lies. Our schools hand on the lie that obedience and industryare virtues, that history and French are education."
"The main difficulty in telling our children the truth is this: we all failtell ourselves the truth. We lie to ourselves, and we lie to our neighbors. Welie because we are taught to live up to an unreachable standard of morality. Itwas our early training that gave us the skeleton that we ever after try tohide...That is why I feel that freedom is essential. Children lie mostly becausethey do not have freedom; they lie mostly to protect themselves. Lyingflourishes in homes and schools where fear flourishes. Abolish fear and thelying will decay."
"I grant it is very hard to be always truthful, but when one makes adecision not to lie to a child or in front of a child, one finds it easier thanone expected. The only good permissible lie is the kind one has to tell whenlife is in danger - for example, when a seriously ill child is not told of hismother's death."
In short, "Armor your children against all spitefulbusybodies by making up your mind to never lie to any child - your own, anyoneelse's, including your pupils. There is no other way but the way of absolutetruth for a child."