People often frown upon lying, but a small fib can sometimes help to prevent bad feelings among you and your friends. For example, after a long day at school, going to a social event is the last thing I want to do. If I hang out with my friends when I’m tired, I just don’t have fun. But I find it hard to simply tell my friends I don’t want to spend time with them. I worry that they might feel unwanted. In this case, I think there’s nothing wrong with saying that I have homework, or that my parents need me to come straight home. My friends don’t get offended, and I don’t have to hang out when I don’t feel like it. These types of small lies can help everyone to feel better.
—Kalissa Huang, a freshman from California