Child raising: A consistent moral code in the home

If the moral code in the home is inconsistent, what the youth learns and what moral code they will be directed by varies.

• Rules that are applied to other people and other families but not to their own, teaches the youth to not value such rules at all. (The classic example of this is ragging about “welfare cheats” when the family fudges on tax forms.)
• If the youth is expected to live by rules (such as no lying) that the parent doesn't live by, the youth are likely to reject the rules as unfair.
• Hypocrisy is commonly rejected by the child unless the parent admits the problem but excuses it by saying that they want their child to do better than they have done. This takes it out of the realm of “hypocrisy.”