Dilemma #2

[Jazzy]

Judy was a twelve-year-old girl. Her mother promised her that she could go to a special rock concert coming to their town if she saved up from babysitting and lunch money to buy a ticket to the concert. She managed to save up the fifteen dollars the ticket cost plus another five dollars. But then her mother changed her mind and told Judy that she had to spend the money on new clothes for school. Judy was disappointed and decided to go to the concert anyway. She bought a ticket and told her mother that she had only been able to save five dollars. That Saturday she went to the performance and told her mother that she was spending the day with a friend. A week passed without her mother finding out. Judy then told her older sister, Louise, that she had gone to the performance and had lied to her mother about it. Louise wonders whether to tell their mother what Judy did.

Source

Should Louise, the older sister, tell their mother that Judy lied about the money or should she keep quiet? Why?

 

[seasidemike]

This one really depends on the circumstances.
What is different about this one is that the mother is not looking for the money for her own use, but prioritising the money for the child's use (new cloths).
Given that at that age aether would normally provide school clothing the assumption has to be tat there is a serious cash issue.
However, Judy worked for and and saved her own money so the choice between the concert and the cloths should have been given to Judy to decide on, or even find a compromise somehow.

The trust between sisters is important so the question on if Louise should tell or not should come down to if Judy's safety was ever at risk.

Having said that, the real thing that Louise should do is to try to influence Judy to talk to her mother and tell her the truth so the habit or deception does not become the norm.

 

[The Supreme King]

Assuming Judy is well into her teens (as you should be if you're babysitting), Louise shouldn't be a little snitch. Judy worked for the money and spent her own money.

 

[Gizmo]

Well first off if your child is under 16 and gets no other money other than doing a few odd jobs then the parents should be made to buy the stuff she needs for school.

So really in all honesty if her mother just paid for the clothes in the first place she wouldn't need to lie to her mother.

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

The mom is the ruler and queen of the house and completely in charge of her and everything she has. If the parent feels the need that the money should be used for clothes then so be it.

Unless it is criminal the sister should not say a thing. It is the parents responsibilty to keep track of what there kids are doing.

 

[Bluezone777]

When you make an agreement then you should stick to it and if it is to your child then doing so will ensure you teach the moral of honesty and sticking to your word. By not doing so, this mother is instilling the idea that dishonesty is perfectly acceptable when it benefits you. I wouldn't be surprised if this child grows up to be a liar who lies her way through life because of her mother's teachings. She's already on her way as due to her mother's deception, the child is now copying her by lying to her about how much money she had. By the way, being so desperate for money that you need to basically rob your child of twenty dollars says a heck of a lot about your maturity in matters of money as the story gives no indication of any distress that would drive this mother to need that twenty so badly.

As for Louise, there is nothing wrong with saying nothing however if she is asked then she should come forward and be honest about it. Someone in this household hopefully hasn't forgotten about the virtues of honesty.