I've been doing a bit of research into this, and I thought perhaps if I brought this topic up in a forum that I might get some good feedback.

In the course of my reading, I've come to my own conclusion that telling Children that Santa Claus is real has more potential to harm them than to tell them that Ol' Saint Nick is just as make-believe as Harry Potter. I understand that telling children that Santa is real has become a pasttime in many cultures, and is a Christmas tradition.

The fact that I found startling, is that telling them he's real is just as much a lie as anything. Statistics suggest that most kids turn out okay when they find out their parents were pulling a fast one on them, about 62%, if I recall correctly. The problem is, that 38% still have negative aftereffects of the lie, and mistrust of their parental units begins.

In my house, with my daughter, Santa is still a part of the Holiday Season, but we say that he's just pretend. This, I believe, will continue to stimulate her imagination and help her to grow up in a trusting, fun atmosphere.

Let's hear what some of you have to say on this, and I fully expect some disagreements (my wife actually disagreed with me on this at first, but we've had some good discussion on it and have come to an equitable solution).

I dont think I would enjoy taking part in some faked nonsence created in order to keep up a delusion which deceives someone.












I dont have kids.

(June 25, 2013 at 10:04 am)The Germans are coming Wrote: I dont think I would enjoy taking part in some faked nonsence created in order to keep up a delusion which deceives someone.

It's certainly faked, but I don't have enough information to label it as nonsense, I think. It is, after all, a tradition. Even though the tradition has religious origins, it's definitely a secular hoax. Religion and all else aside, the fact remains that it is indeed a hoax, and it's an elaborate one to pull the wool over the eyes of unsuspecting kids. Though the kids will eventually learn the truth and might even feel good about themselves for figuring it out, they may start wondering what else their parents are lying about.

I certainly did.

If I had kids, they would not be informed that Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy, or the Easter Bunny were real. I would be taking away childhood magic? Nonsense. They can get that from reading a good fiction book.

Shrugs. I did it with my two daughters, as my parents did to me and my brother.

I don't remember suddenly realizing it wasn't true anymore growing up. And if it was some exact moment it obviously didn't affect me at all. I have pretty good memories of my childhood, even from a tiny tot.

Let them find out that people make up magical men stories. This is good practice for the whole god thing.

(June 25, 2013 at 10:01 am)BadWriterSparty Wrote: I've been doing a bit of research into this, and I thought perhaps if I brought this topic up in a forum that I might get some good feedback.

In the course of my reading, I've come to my own conclusion that telling Children that Santa Claus is real has more potential to harm them than to tell them that Ol' Saint Nick is just as make-believe as Harry Potter. I understand that telling children that Santa is real has become a pasttime in many cultures, and is a Christmas tradition.

The fact that I found startling, is that telling them he's real is just as much a lie as anything. Statistics suggest that most kids turn out okay when they find out their parents were pulling a fast one on them, about 62%, if I recall correctly. The problem is, that 38% still have negative aftereffects of the lie, and mistrust of their parental units begins.

In my house, with my daughter, Santa is still a part of the Holiday Season, but we say that he's just pretend. This, I believe, will continue to stimulate her imagination and help her to grow up in a trusting, fun atmosphere.

Let's hear what some of you have to say on this, and I fully expect some disagreements (my wife actually disagreed with me on this at first, but we've had some good discussion on it and have come to an equitable solution).

Oh I don't know, it's difficult for me to form an unbroken chain of sound thought that leads to the conclusion that fiction is bad. Not that this would be indicative of whether or not it is, mind you, but help me get from here to there? If you could cite the source of your statistics (I'd like to see what was chalked down to santa stories and why - explicitly) that would help. I can't see mistrust of parents (and we must specifically be talking about mistrust of claims that parents may make) as being a "bad thing" in and of itself. Parents do lie...after all......

(June 25, 2013 at 11:12 am)BadWriterSparty Wrote: This is a good argument for the good that can come from perpetuating the Santa myth. My only question to you would be why should we use this as a template? Why can't we encourage imagination and freethinking and not hinge on the hope that maybe they'll look back on this part of their childhood with a smile? Statistically there's that 38% that will not be happy about being lied to.

I'm not mad about parents doing this though. My in-laws are doing this with their son, even though they are atheists. They're using the Santa myth as a tool for their son to learn critical thinking early on, and they hope that he'll be proud of himself once he figures out the truth.

Personally, I just don't want to take the gamble.

*shrugs* I could go either way. I didn't know at the time that 38% of kids harbored negative results from it.

Too late now for me and mine.

Kids survive santa not being real a lot better than adults survive jesus not being real. I assume kids are more adaptable.