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If you have more than one child at home do you find that they often “tattle” on each other? I have written about digital tattle tales before and on a recent trip to San Francisco I was thinking about it again, and how, in my case, counting on one or more of my kids to squeal on the other has become a defacto form of checks and balances when I am away from home.  I chat about this with one of my fellow “Cast of Dads” dads, Michael Sheehan from HighTechDad in the short video below.  Although I joke about the snitching being helpful to me, in retrospect I think the trust issue is more important and that I may be better off in the long run if I discourage my kids from being so loose with their lips (something about sinking ships…)  What do you think?

What do you think about kids that throw their siblings under the bus?  Does having kids who tattle on each other help or hurt?  Should the behavior be welcome or discouraged?   Feel free to tattle about it in the comments!

Jeff Sass is the proud dad of ZEO (Zach, 22, Ethan, 20 and Olivia, 18).  He is also a seasoned entertainment and technology exec and active social media enthusiast.  You can see more of Jeff’s writing at Sassholes! and Social Networking Rehab and you can listen to Jeff on the Cast of Dads podcast.?

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5 Comments


  1. I agree it’s informative, but I also discourage it. No one likes a snitch. I also try to explain it in the context of family loyalty, because I believe that extends out into the world at large.


  2. hi!

    I think that kids in the 6 to 12 age group especially have a built-in “fairness” thing going on. Sometimes it’s just a matter of them wanting to be heard, and understood. Validated.

    Older than that, they should start getting it worked out between themselves naturally. Then they start KEEPING things from Ma & Pa, like who broke the vase, or who at 16 nipped the beer from the cabinet. 🙂


  3. I have three kids, ages 3 – 11 and the love to tattle on each other. They can be a source of information when trying to figure out what happened, but their stories never seem to match up.


  4. Rusty, Jannie and Eric, thanks for sharing your thoughts. A lot of good points, and it seems that us and our kids can learn a lot from going through a “snitching” phase. I think going forward I am going to try a bit harder to discourage it, even if it means I may be less “informed.”


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