DID you know that according to the book of lies by M. Hirsh Goldberg that the average person lies about 200 times a day?

This number includes white lies and omissions, which really tells us how our society has become what it is known as today.

National Honesty Day is celebrated all across the world on the last day of April. Goldberg invented this day and he chose the last day of April since the first day of the month, April Fools’ Day, represents foolishness and distrust. Remember that this day is a day to go obout about telling the truth to others around you. It’s a time for you to show your bravery in sharing opinions, perspectives and thoughts while being open about them by not keeping anything to yourself. However, always be cautious not to offend or upset anyone by saying anything that may not be considered polite.

I can admit that I have lied to people around me almost all the time about general things that I might have been asked about. For example, if someone asked how my day went, my general answer would probably be “fine,” and I just don’t expand any further on that. Some days that answer of “fine” may as well mean that I’m not having a great day or just simply too tired to answer.

Another example of me lying can be when someone asks me how he or she might look and my general response will be that they look great. In my defense, I prefer not to criticize someone for their flaws but at the same time that person will sooner or later notice that I am not someone that they would want to ask again on how they look as I just approve of everything! These are just some of the situations that I have been a part of when I lie to someone during the day.

In school, lies take the shape of excuses to get out of things such as assignments and due dates. Lying is not the last resort to not finishing your homework, so simply let your teacher know that you didn’t do what you were told to do and that’s that.

Being truthful about a school assignment may be hard at first but it’s all worth it in the end because the teacher will feel reassured that you didn’t break the trust relationship you have with them over a silly little homework assignment or project. The next time you don’t do something that you were assigned to do, just tell the truth straight up because it takes less stress to tell the truth than a lie and it also causes less stress for others around you to not doubt you.

BY HARNOOR GILL
Grade 10 student
Christ The King Catholic Secondary
Georgetown, Ontario

Last but not least, let’s get the word of National Honesty Day out there and get the Internet spewing out all the truthful facts of the world. This will in turn influence people to participate in this event by not lying and being straight up honest about everything that they say. To get the word out, spread the word through media sources such as facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, photobucket, linkedin, myspace, formspring, ask.fm and even blackberry messenger. On this day, it is also worthwhile to speak out against the misconceptions and misinformation that is present in our media, particularly on the Internet.

So, this year I will attempt to not produce any lies of any sort for one whole day out of the 365 in a year this April.

Have an honest and truthful National Honesty Day!