[jacknews]

Oh dear, you're not a parent are you. The reason adults lie is because we want our kids to experience the life we dream of, not necessarily the one we have. Or at least, the best bits of what we have, without the pitfalls that we know are there, drugs, debt, etc. We understand some of the things we did and do wrong, and what we do right, and we want to give them the tools to avoid making stupid mistakes and focus on things that will bring them success. Sometimes that means being the boogeyman in order to force them to study or whatever, sometimes makes us appear naive by painting an idyll. But we do it for our kids, not for ourselves. You'll understand that when you have kids. But, your advice to "question everything" and "explore" is absolutely right. I would temper it with "some things just have to be done, and done the hard way. Grit your teeth, get it done, feel good about getting it done, and move to the next thing".

[diminium]

Wow, in this case, I stand by my statement 'The world is big, huge, and interesting. Don't think its as small as the adults want you to think it is' even more strongly now.

"pitfalls that we know are there, drugs, debt....study or whatever"

Congratulations! Out of the infinite amount of things in the world that are good and the infinite amount of things in the world that are bad, this parent just taught the kid to worry ONLY about drugs, debt, and homework.

If there's one thing about children I can say without a doubt is that they are the ultimate copy machines. The thing they are completely focused on desperately trying to copy? Their parent.

So in reality, the best possible way for a parent to teach their children their dreams they want is to personally live those dreams. However, for 97% of people in this world, this so hard that they don't want to do it. Thus they choose the easier alternative - lying. This, ironically, then teaches the kid this technique as well since kids, well, copy them.