Why Lie?

I’ve noticed that my student’s factory default setting is set to “LIE. LIE ALWAYS.” And that little red switch is placed somewhere awkward that I can’t reach, like you can’t get to that button no matter which way you bend a paper clip.

They’re not even good liars. We are working on an assignment, I stroll (as much as I can stroll after at least 6+ hours in my way too cute heels from Target that are so not meant for teachers who stand 9 hours a day) over to a student and ask if they have completed number 3.

She looks me dead in the eye and replies:
“Yup. All done.”
This surprises me since her desk is currently obscured by some sort of colorful teen beat pop-bop whatever magazine that’s mostly glossy advertisements aka ‘articles’ over Disney channel stars and their too-white toothy grins. Her worksheet is nowhere in sight, clearly she isn’t scholarly laboring.

This lie is easy to check, maybe the student finished all her work ahead of time.

Right.

So I ask, “Can I see number 3?” She heaves the biggest most oh-so tragic sigh and sloooooowly pulls the assignment from her binder. It’s completely blank. Not even a name scrawled across the top.

I put my hand on her desk and stare at her overly make-upped face in what I hope is an authoritative manner.
“You haven’t done a single thing,” I say sternly. “Why lie?”
She shrugs.
“Dunno.”- is her eloquent reply.

I’m irritated, so I wisk away from her, her magazine in my hand as retribution. She makes a noise like a cat someone has squeezed too hard around the middle and the air blew out one end. As I file her teen zine in the recycling bin I can hear her thumping her stuff on her desk so everyone knows just how totally offended she is.
I just don’t understand her reasoning. Why would I not check her work? Why lie over something so obvious?

I had an encounter later with one of my more diminutive ‘gangsters.’ Everyone was supposed to working on their test review, a document that I personally handed to every student.

Me: Why aren’t you working on your test review?
LG(little gangsta): I don’t got one.
Me: You do so got one. I gave you one yesterday.
LG: Nah you didn’t Miss. (he gestures to his empty desktop) I don’t got one.
Me: I put it in your hands. Yesterday.
LG: Prove it!
(At this point, my feet hurt quite a lot. And I know I gave this sweaty child a test review.)
Me: I don’t have to ‘prove it,’ I gave you one. If you don’t do it, it doesn’t hurt me.
LG: Miss, you didn’t give me no test review!
Me: Let’s check your binder.
(To my extreme delight, I flipped open the front of his binder and stuffed there in the very front pocket: his test review.)
LG: Miss that wasn’t there.
Me: I think I just ‘proved it.’

I pulled out the review and set it on his desk and left him to begrudgingly begin “work” aka doodling a gang sign on the top corner. Why did he lie? Dear Little Gangster, you and I both know I gave you a test review.

I see this blatant lying all day. Every day. I don’t know where along the way telling simple truths became optional. Maybe it’s the adults; maybe we started getting too lazy to verify anything the kids said. We let the lies go answered… probably because it’s a lot of work to continually “prove it” to kids who don’t want to listen.