Being in high school in this generation is difficult because some people feel they have to act differently or lie to make any friends. I have experienced this feeling multiple times in my two years of high school. During my freshman year, I did not talk very much because I was afraid of saying something that would cause people to avoid me. Now that I am starting my junior year, I have come to realize that lying does not help me at all. Although lying can bestow you with many acquaintances, your lies can come back and get you, because you lose your friends in the long run.
I believe that the only way to get any true friends is to always tell the truth about anything and everything. Even the smallest falsehood can cause karma to unleash her fury.
I know a boy who has just entered his freshman year. He thought that more people would accept him if he lied, and he lied about almost everything; he lied about going to New Zealand for the summer, and he lied about being a sophomore. He lied about being in a class that only upper classman can be in, and he lied about being able to drive. Everybody knows that he does not tell the truth, and the large amount of people who know him avoid or make fun of him. On our way back from the choral festival at Central Washington University, he dug himself a large hole from all of his lies that he could not get out of. One of the girls on the bus started saying things like “lying will not get you anywhere,” and “there is no point in telling more lies, everyone knows you’re a fibber.” He was really offended, but she was just stating the obvious. His demeanor reminded the kids on the bus and me of The Boy Who Cried Wolf because he told so many dishonest statements that we could no longer tell which were true and which were false.
Many times in my life I have had the chance to say something in order to gain more acquaintances, but every time these come up, I turn them down because I know that even if I obtained friends by lying, they will never be close friends because, in truth, we have nothing in common.
My parents have always taught me that honesty is the best policy for any and every situation, especially in social meetings because then more information is noted for both people. Lying may allow me to have more friends, but eventually the truth comes out, and when it does, the outcome is never pretty.