Lying here or there will make the principal question other things in your story. Lying can cause more stress later on because you’ll have to stick to your false story and it can be hard to remember made-up details.
For instance, you can say, “Joe put his foot out and tripped Mary, but she turned around and thought it was me. Mr Collins didn’t see exactly what happened, so he assumed that Mary was right. " Or you could say, “Raul started screaming in my face, so I screamed back. He got mad because I called him out for how he treats other students and that’s when he started punching me. I was just trying to get him off of me, I didn’t really want to fight. "
Talking over someone may also cause them to mirror your behavior, and it could prevent you from telling your side of the story.
You can say something like “I shouldn’t have pushed John back, I can admit that. I was just angry that he shoved me, and it was an automatic response. It’s not how I usually am, but I was wrong. " Or something like, “Honestly, I did skip school that day. I don’t really have a good explanation, but now I know it’s wrong and I take full responsibility for what I did. I just hope that it doesn’t lessen all of the good stuff I’ve done over the school year. "
You can also ask an adult about the right strategies to use when talking to teachers or authority figures.
For instance, if you feel like trashing the lunchroom or leaving packets of ketchup on the floor, think about the person who has to clean it up and how it makes their day harder. If you bully other people and make them feel bad about themselves, try to think about how it would make you feel if someone targeted you in the same way.
