Lancet Psychiatry has published an opinion piece (which the media is sometimes confusingly referring to as “research”) in which the authors argue that telling children Santa is real may be harmful and immoral. I have to completely disagree with the authors and I think their opinion reflects only their own biases.
Their primary thesis is that if parents tell their children a lie for years, sometimes maintaining that lie with elaborate deception, and the children inevitably discover the lie, that will undermine the child’s faith in the authority of their parents. They write:
“If they are capable of lying about something so special and magical, can they be relied upon to continue as the guardians of wisdom and truth?”
Nah…Santa’s OK…I don’t remember being upset when I found out Santa was my parents…they were doing something nice…it was fun playing along with it for my younger sister too…
I remember shaking my dads leg trying to get him to admit santa wasn’t real and he was laughing so hard and wouldn’t admit it. And I said he wouldn’t fit in the chimney etc. And if he ate so many mince pies he would die. So next Xmas I waited up all night and had no presents in the morning. And my parents said ‘I thought you didn’t believe in Santa?’
I think the Santa lie is o k because children get soooo excited that Santa Claus is coming !! I remember watching a jetliner flying by with a red light on the front of the plane at night and I thought it was rudolph the red nosed reindeer…it’s just for fun !!
I think it depends on the details of how it is handled. If I had children, I would let them believe in Santa until they showed signs of critical thinking, whenever they bloomed in that regard. I wouldn’t go out of my way to trick them, but I’d let them believe what they might hear from other children, let them watch children’s Christmas movies and then vaguely refer to Santa visiting when they get their presents, like presents from family and then one special present from “Santa” each year. But when they reached the point in their development of asking me if Santa is actually real, I’d give them the low-down. Most children’s biggest concern in such a case would be, “Does this mean I don’t get the extra present anymore?” Not an existential crisis.
I disagree with it, lying is one thing, The magic of Christmas is another, it would be like not letting children pretend to be a princess or super hero
I believed in Santa for about 6 or 7 years, I remember when I was 7 I wrote Santa and left cookies out with a not requesting a my size Barbie, I got it as a surprise gift hiding underneath the tree.
I still don’t know if I will do the santa thing for my future kids. I have a really hard time maintaining lies and it hurts my brain. I think it would be fun for them, though.
It held powerful sway over me as a child. Believe it or not, I was a very mild-mannered, quiet kid (no seriously, stop laughing), and the mere mention of Santa excited me until 2nd grade. Maybe third grade. Anyway, I kind of figured out he is fiction on my own, but when my dad confirmed my suspicions, I was truly disappointed. I didn’t hold the running fib against my parents, and in retrospect, I think it was also the time I was taught logical thinking by my dad. So in a way, it actually was a growing opportunity as a child. But that’s me.
