should we teach kids to beilve in santa?
- Thread starter Agent@5
- Start date
~The_Chosen~
Registered Senior Member
Why not?
I believed in Santa as a kid, it was the most fun thing. Of course, why not?
Just unteach them later, they'll grow up and laugh at how they fell for it
I believed in Santa as a kid, it was the most fun thing. Of course, why not?
Just unteach them later, they'll grow up and laugh at how they fell for it
~The_Chosen~
Registered Senior Member
Hmmm...Agent
Well not really. It's lying (literally correct) but it's in GOOD INTENTIONS.
I work with children all the time at Child Development Centers and Youth Services Centers.
You sit down with them and tell them all about Santa, where he lives, what he does...it lets them talk about something, discuss, they get excited thinking about elfs and reindeers And they're so damn cute...plus when they see someone dressed up as Santa they get so delighted and no harm has been done.
Well not really. It's lying (literally correct) but it's in GOOD INTENTIONS.
I work with children all the time at Child Development Centers and Youth Services Centers.
You sit down with them and tell them all about Santa, where he lives, what he does...it lets them talk about something, discuss, they get excited thinking about elfs and reindeers
And they're so damn cute...plus when they see someone dressed up as Santa they get so delighted and no harm has been done.Well, I never believed in Santa no matter how hard my parents tried. I didn't believe it when I was 5 years old. I am a natural born skeptic. That is probably why I am an engineer/physicist.
My sister still believed in Santa when she was 12. I think that is because she refused to believe it ain't true or in denial. Her personality is totally different from mine.
In the end it doesn't make any difference..... We all grow up.
My sister still believed in Santa when she was 12. I think that is because she refused to believe it ain't true or in denial. Her personality is totally different from mine.
In the end it doesn't make any difference..... We all grow up.
~The_Chosen~
Registered Senior Member
Every child grows out of their beliefs. The kids I worked with were so adorably cute! Some are mature enough to understand that Santa isn't real and that is when their brain start to separate fantasy from reality.
Insane people have problems doing that.
Work with kids Agent@5, you're a teenager right? It'll be cool experience, plus women should love children.
This is slightly of topic, nevertheless, may I ask what part of our Western society is inherently fallacious??
I don't think you should lie to kids, in any way. It's just sends them a deep message that never leaves them. It's disgusting.
Unlike you, I was never told that Santa existed, since I'm Jewish. The guy in the mall -- Some overweight unemployed person. Now, my parent's still tried to convince me that the tooth fairy existed. It was extremely insulting. I said, okay, howabout I give you the tooth, and you give me the money. We both know very well that you're the so called "tooth fairy" . She responds: No I'm not.
So I stay up that night to prove it, and afterwards she still tries to convince me that she never tried to play the role of any ficticious charecter such as the tooth fairy. It was very confusing. I didn't wan't to believe in something so illogical and pathetic, but there I was, being told by someone I trusted to have faith. Luckilly I didn't. She still tried to convince me when I was twelve.
It just sends kids mixed messages. They're supposed to trust their parents. But lying to them gets kids into the pattern of blind faith, where they loose independence, and trust the word of close people rather than themselves. That's sadly, bound to lead to kids' who don't think for themselves, and pick up bad habits down the road.
I guarantee you, that all the druggees, loosers, and bums nowadays believed in Santa Clause, or the tooth fairy, or whatever, when they were kids.
Unlike you, I was never told that Santa existed, since I'm Jewish. The guy in the mall -- Some overweight unemployed person. Now, my parent's still tried to convince me that the tooth fairy existed. It was extremely insulting. I said, okay, howabout I give you the tooth, and you give me the money. We both know very well that you're the so called "tooth fairy" . She responds: No I'm not.
So I stay up that night to prove it, and afterwards she still tries to convince me that she never tried to play the role of any ficticious charecter such as the tooth fairy. It was very confusing. I didn't wan't to believe in something so illogical and pathetic, but there I was, being told by someone I trusted to have faith. Luckilly I didn't. She still tried to convince me when I was twelve.
It just sends kids mixed messages. They're supposed to trust their parents. But lying to them gets kids into the pattern of blind faith, where they loose independence, and trust the word of close people rather than themselves. That's sadly, bound to lead to kids' who don't think for themselves, and pick up bad habits down the road.
I guarantee you, that all the druggees, loosers, and bums nowadays believed in Santa Clause, or the tooth fairy, or whatever, when they were kids.
The tooth fairy is a brilliant example. Thanks for bringing it up. These lies are there to try and make us act better or its compensation for losing something i.e, a tooth. But I don't get why parents just don't say 'You lost another tooth, have some money, that'll make you feel better' or 'If you don't be good, I won't buy you any presents'.
They probably use it so they don't feel as guilty (tooth taken out = pain for me)
They probably use it so they don't feel as guilty (tooth taken out = pain for me)
The Santa story is harmless. Now, I don't know what kind of pathetic little kids you know but I have never met someone who rejected their parents or saw them as liers because they told them about Santa.
It's a harmless lie that brings joy to little children and instills fantasy and imagination into them. If you'd like to take away a little more of the imagination that we already strip children of, go ahead. I for one don't see it as a bad thing to let a child have a fantasy until he/she is old enough to come to terms with reality themselves.
It's a harmless lie that brings joy to little children and instills fantasy and imagination into them. If you'd like to take away a little more of the imagination that we already strip children of, go ahead. I for one don't see it as a bad thing to let a child have a fantasy until he/she is old enough to come to terms with reality themselves.
Hi Agent@5 I can only speak from personal experience, which was a positive one. I agree with Tyler in that, I have never heard or seen any EVIDENCE that a child subjected to Santa has had any problems whatsoever. Children will LIE later in life, just as we all have, regardless of what their perception of Santa was as a child. Atheists run the risk of contradicting themselves though - beware :bugeye:ahh the joys of parenting...
I can only speak from personal experience, which was a positive one. I agree with Tyler in that, I have never heard or seen any EVIDENCE that a child subjected to Santa has had any problems whatsoever. Children will LIE later in life, just as we all have, regardless of what their perception of Santa was as a child. Atheists run the risk of contradicting themselves though - beware :bugeye:ahh the joys of parenting...Isn't it a shame we don't get that human operating manual when the baby comes home from the hospital.
First Santa Clause, then the Tooth Fairy, and next it'll be the Easter Bunny. What's a poor child to believe...
What is so hard to believe about a fat guy in a red suit with reindeer and a sleigh instead of a decent motorbike. Or some little wisp of a thing flying in to take the old nasty (kinda of neat looking) tooth away and leave money in its place. Or a big bunny that goes around laying eggs.
Kids learn about these things from the grown ups. It becomes something that they look forward to every year until. It lightens up their lives and gives bright joy to them in a very new world. I, for one, would never dream of depriving a child of such joy. With the various sicknesses that come to them there is a very real chance that they may die never knowing the difference. Is that so bad to bring a child that much happiness when tomarrow he/she might not be here for the next one?
So later they learn that it is a thing that all the grownups always knew and were in calhoots about. They learn that one day they will be grown ups, the evidence is that they aready know the "secret".
First Santa Clause, then the Tooth Fairy, and next it'll be the Easter Bunny. What's a poor child to believe...
What is so hard to believe about a fat guy in a red suit with reindeer and a sleigh instead of a decent motorbike. Or some little wisp of a thing flying in to take the old nasty (kinda of neat looking) tooth away and leave money in its place. Or a big bunny that goes around laying eggs.
Kids learn about these things from the grown ups. It becomes something that they look forward to every year until. It lightens up their lives and gives bright joy to them in a very new world. I, for one, would never dream of depriving a child of such joy. With the various sicknesses that come to them there is a very real chance that they may die never knowing the difference. Is that so bad to bring a child that much happiness when tomarrow he/she might not be here for the next one?
So later they learn that it is a thing that all the grownups always knew and were in calhoots about. They learn that one day they will be grown ups, the evidence is that they aready know the "secret".
~The_Chosen~
Registered Senior Member
Good explanation Wet1
I agree with you Wet1, couldn't have said it better.
I agree with you Wet1, couldn't have said it better.
So what should we teach these innocent little children instead? That christmas is now a commercial holiday where their parents vigorously attack the shopping malls in search of toys for them and that the big corporations are nothing but greedy, unethical robots?
Oh and well put Wet1
Oh and well put Wet1
(The following is why I will never have children)
The world is full of these little lies, these small untruths that form the basis of so many institutions, the basis of society itself is the lie.
Children will eventually be subjected to that. Now, I like children for their honesty and simplicity.
Why corrupt that? It's one of the most precious things in the world.
Any child I raised would have to be raised without lies - as a non-herd animal and a skeptic.
Thus I will never have children.
P.S: Like Joeman, I never really believed in Santa. I had a sort of "Uh huh, riiiiiight" attitude to the whole affair. Thus when told "It's your parents" I was not shocked.
"Oh, that makes sense. Next!"
Edit to add:
Why is the commercialization of Christmas a problem? Who the fuck cares and why?
The world is full of these little lies, these small untruths that form the basis of so many institutions, the basis of society itself is the lie.
Children will eventually be subjected to that. Now, I like children for their honesty and simplicity.
Why corrupt that? It's one of the most precious things in the world.
Any child I raised would have to be raised without lies - as a non-herd animal and a skeptic.
Thus I will never have children.
P.S: Like Joeman, I never really believed in Santa. I had a sort of "Uh huh, riiiiiight" attitude to the whole affair. Thus when told "It's your parents" I was not shocked.
"Oh, that makes sense. Next!"
Edit to add:
Why is the commercialization of Christmas a problem? Who the fuck cares and why?
The Santa story is just one of the thousand fairytales that kids are told, this one is just more animated. They can do good or do harm depending on the circumstances. The important thing is to not take this too far, have a glimpse in the eye, make hints that this may or may not be true. Create exitement and let the kid reveal Santa for itself eventually, like pulling off the beard or something...but all made as a fun play. So that the poor child will not get traumatized. Make suggestions on what the true story behind santa really is. This way, the child gets the opportunity o reveal a great mystery all by itself, and will possibly see the fun in exploring the unknown, to learn, to be brave.
A friend once told me that she believed firmly in santa until that horrid day when she was going to school for the first time. Her mother stopped her at the door and looked seriously at her and said " You know that Santa really doesn't exist, don't you?" She was chocked and cried all the way to school. Her mother told her then, so that she wouldn't get teased by the other children.
Now , that is an example of what shouldn't happen.
And, in my class a boy in 6th grade stil believed in santa, and was terribly upset when everybody else said he was wrong. I'm sure he had a serious talk with his parents after school too.
Me, I was scared stiff of Santa. I refused to go near him. I screamed if they tried to make me approach him. I didn't quite believe that he was the one delivering the presents either, because the labels always said "merry christmas from gandma" or something similar. I could read at 4. So that was also a "problem".
A friend once told me that she believed firmly in santa until that horrid day when she was going to school for the first time. Her mother stopped her at the door and looked seriously at her and said " You know that Santa really doesn't exist, don't you?" She was chocked and cried all the way to school. Her mother told her then, so that she wouldn't get teased by the other children.
Now , that is an example of what shouldn't happen.
And, in my class a boy in 6th grade stil believed in santa, and was terribly upset when everybody else said he was wrong. I'm sure he had a serious talk with his parents after school too.
Me, I was scared stiff of Santa. I refused to go near him. I screamed if they tried to make me approach him. I didn't quite believe that he was the one delivering the presents either, because the labels always said "merry christmas from gandma" or something similar. I could read at 4. So that was also a "problem".