If you see a crime happen, the police might come and ask you questions. You don’t have to answer them or give a statement, but you should be polite and tell them your name. Later, you might get a paper called a subpoena. This paper tells you to come to court on a certain day to talk about what you saw. If you get one, you have to go, or you could get in trouble. When you are in court, you will promise to tell the truth. This is called being “under oath.” Once you promise this, you must not lie. If you say something false on purpose, that’s called perjury, and it’s a serious crime that could land you in a lot of trouble.

Even in court, if answering a question might get you in trouble, you may be allowed to not answer that specific question. This is your right against self-incrimination. But you’d need to speak up and use that right at the time, not just stay quiet.