"I think it's important to think about whether lying is necessary in that situation or whether engaging in a conversation to explain why is better."
Dr Beard said white lies can have serious side-effects,including depriving children of the ability and freedom to make decisions based on available facts and setting a bad example for future behaviour.
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"Young people are still learning to make wise choices and need opportunities to practice that even if the stakes are high,"Dr Beard said.
He said lies designed to protect children from challenging ideas can also take away opportunities for important conversations.
"We got pet fish for Christmas and the whole bunch died,and my son asked us'where did the goldfish go',and the instinct is to say that the fish have gone away or something along those lines because death is a scary thing to talk about,"Dr Beard said.
"But I caught myself and said'they died'and even though[my son] is very young he had a concept of death and I think he said something like'I feel sad'and I gave him a hug and we talked about it.
"The more we lie,the more we communicate that there's something to be feared from those things. If I lie to my son and say that I'm not scared of spiders so he shouldn't be either,he's eventually going to find out that I am,and the conclusion he might reach is that it's not OK to be afraid of things."
Dr Beard said he wouldn't rule out the value of lies that are genuinely necessary to protect children's physical or mental health.
"I do take the view that the majority of things are appropriate to be communicated if they're communicated in the right way,"Dr Beard said.
He said this view also extends to topics such as Santa Claus,the handling of which is a decision for individual families,but which can sometimes lead to children experiencing distrust down the track.
Dr Beard has written a book based on his successful podcast.Credit:Steven Siewert
"It's a very real challenge in terms of what the purpose of the lie is,but my view is that you can enjoy all the good stuff about Santa if you presented it as a story that everyone plays along with,"Dr Beard said.
"A challenge that could come up is if my son asks me'what do I say if my friends ask me about Santa?'. What do we instruct our son to do when it's about what other families have decided?
"Even if it damages our relationships with other parents,we'd say that if asked point-black whether you think Santa's real,if someone asks you tell the truth,you tell the truth.
"Kids can feel deeply distrustful of parents when they find out Santa's not real and I'm concerned that the same thing can happen with friends;the friend might feel betrayed,dishonesty damages friendships."
However,Dr Beard said it was also useful to have a discussion about your children in how to deal with such tricky topics,rather than telling them what to do.
"Instead of saying,'here's me as a parent with answers gift-wrapped for my child',I think it's more important to equip him with tools to make decisions that are his."