# And the Jerk of the Year Award goes to... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 2, 2001, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385 "2001-12-02T00:23:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/1 "2001-12-02T00:23:19Z")
[http://news.ninemsn.com/national/story\_22819.asp](http://news.ninemsn.com/national/story_22819.asp) > [@](#): > > A NSW primary school teacher has reportedly been disciplined for telling young students that Santa Claus does not exist. > > The Sunday Herald Sun said the relief teacher at Corowa Public School, in southern NSW, told a class of six-year-olds that Christmas presents came from parents and Santa was fictional. Delightful man. Disciplined? This should be a sackable offence. How dare he take that fantasy away from children, against the wishes of their families. At least the article says he probably won’t be teaching at that school again. What a cruel thing to do to six year olds. ---
**Author:** ![Slip\_Mahoney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Slip\_Mahoney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slip_Mahoney)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/2 "2001-12-02T00:53:52Z")
Not only is he a jerk, he’s also wrong. Virginia will tell you that yes, there is a Santa. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/3 "2001-12-02T01:06:56Z")
When I was 6 I told my best friend that Santa Claus was a made-up story and presents came from parents. Should I have been expelled? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/4 "2001-12-02T01:17:22Z")
Teachers are persons of authority and kids are brought up to believe that what they say is the truth - the nature of a teacher, indeed. I always chose not to believe my friends if they told me something I didn’t want to hear. But a teacher speaks holy truths! At least according to a 6 year old. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/5 "2001-12-02T01:35:31Z")
I don’t get it. He’s a jerk for telling the truth? Would you be this upset if he told them professional wrestling was fake? Would he be a jerk if he told them evolution was real, even if their parents taught them otherwise? I think there are _plenty_ of worse jerks out there who deserve the award better. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/6 "2001-12-02T01:48:39Z")
I think the idea of the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and Santa Clause are bogus anyway so I can’t be a judge of a teacher spilling the beans. I’m of the school of thought that we teach our children not to lie, yet we tell children these _lies_ only to have them disappointed later on in life. Having fanasties are one thing (like those presented in books) but to out and out tell children that Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are real is bulldoody in my eyes, they are lies. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/7 "2001-12-02T01:52:25Z")
Personally, I think it is irresponsible to tell kids that things like Santa and the Tooth Ferry are real. What’s the point of setting them up for disapointment? Children are very capable of understanding the difference between fiction and reality, and they should be taught to do so from an early age. That doesn’t mean they can’t still enjoy the Christmas mythology. A good story doesn’t start to suck just because it isn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@The\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tim)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/8 "2001-12-02T01:59:07Z")
I agree that this isn’t merits for biggest jerk of the year. Yeah the teacher is bursting the bubble and maybe it wasn’t the best plan to be the one to deliver the set up disapointment. However kids don’t need to be lied to from the start. As friedo and techchick have mentioned kids don’t need to be lied to and told Santa is real. My parents just told the story and never claimed he was real. Yeah some gifts were from “Santa” but that was part of the fun of having presents be there when you woke up and having not been there before. My dad always explained Santa as a good example. Both in terms of generosity and a fact about the people who gave gifts, they like cookies. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/9 "2001-12-02T03:01:21Z")
A guy at work claimed he actually heard the following converstation: While at a friend’s house, someone asked the young daughter there if she believed in Santa Claus. Her reply was that he had to be real, because “Daddy couldn’t possibly afford all these toys”. ---
**Author:** ![Searching\_For\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Searching\_For\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Searching_For_Truth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/10 "2001-12-02T03:16:07Z")
To me, the issue really isn’t whether or not Santa’s real, it’s the impact telling a class of 6-year-olds that he doesn’t exist after being raised for years on the classic story of Santa’s annual Christmas trips. Christmas never was the same for me after I found out Santa wasn’t real, and it probably never will be. A child’s wonder and innocence is a dreadful thing to crush, and I consider what the teacher did as crossing the limit. He had no right to say what he did. Lord knows some kids went home upset that day. Frankly, I think that stinks. Then again, as we all know, a public school teacher should know better than to tell students (especially such young and susceptible ones, at that) anything that could interfere with the teaching of their parents. Because, y’know, parents are ALWAYS right. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/11 "2001-12-02T03:52:45Z")
“Santa? He’s real. Of course, he’s dead now. Your dad killed him, he caught him giving your mom the 'ol yule log. Tooth fairy? Also dead, AIDS. Easter bunny? That was him in the pot in ‘Fatal Attraction’, he’s dead as a turd. Tasty though. If you want, we can dig chunks of him out of my stool.” ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/12 "2001-12-02T03:58:38Z")
Am I the only one who finds it ironic that we celebrate the birth of Jesus by constructing an elaborate hoax to pull on all the kids? Not that I really care, being an atheist and all, but it seems kind of hypocritical. ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/13 "2001-12-02T05:27:22Z")
I considered starting a seperate thread to mention this since I know I’ll be flamed, but… I fucking _hate_ Santa Claus. I don’t have anything against Christmas, or even the secularization of it [sub]I am an atheist[/sub], but I hate Santa. The myth of Santa seems to have been dreamed up specifically to fuck with poor children’s self esteem- he know if you’ve been bad or good, so if you got crappy presents because that’s all yr family could afford it must be _your fault_. You know, I bet Santa brought all kinds of cool shit for the Menendez brothers when they were little. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/14 "2001-12-02T05:40:54Z")
**waterj2** said > [@](#): > > Am I the only one who finds it ironic that we celebrate the birth of Jesus by constructing an elaborate hoax to pull on all the kids? Nope! These two dovetail nicely IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/15 "2001-12-02T06:01:25Z")
My husband and I were having a conversation about when to tell our future child that Santa isn’t real. I agree with freido and The Tim to a point. I would rather raise my child to be an intelligent, thoughtful, logical-thinking child and believing in fake holiday icons is counter-productive to the way I want to encourage my child to think. However, I think that by telling them the truth right off the bat, a lot of other children will find out earlier than their parents want them to. If my child tells his 5 year old friends there’s no Santa, I would have a lot of angry parents calling me. So a compromise is in order. I would tell my child at a such a time when I think it’s unhealthy to continue living in a fantasy world, when they should be able to logically think things through on their own. I think 8 is a good age (if I had to pick one) for them to be told the truth. My 11 year old nephew still believes and it’s a little disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/16 "2001-12-02T07:08:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Personally, I think it is irresponsible to tell kids that things like Santa and the Tooth Ferry are real. I just singled out this quote from many that are similar. Telling your children about Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy is something that should be up to each parent to decide for their children. You can’t stop kids in the playground saying “Santa isn’t real”, but children often tease other children, and their word doesn’t carry the same weight. No adult should take the magic of Christmas away from someone else’s children - and especially not a teacher. When I was small, other children said to me “Santa isn’t real”, and I didn’t know if they were telling the truth. I asked my mother, and she said “What do you think?”. I thought about it, and I decided Santa was real. When I was a bit older, I asked her again, and she gave the same reply, and I thought about it, but was a bit less confident that Santa was real. Eventually, I came across proof that Santa didn’t exist, but it wasn’t the shock it would otherwise have been, because I’d been working up to that point for a long time. I was given a chance to grow into the idea that Santa didn’t exist. My mother didn’t lie to me, she let me work it out for myself. If a teacher had told me Santa wasn’t real when I was six, I would have believed it, and I would have been crushed. No one says this teacher has to create a Santa fantasy for kids, but he has no business telling children that Santa doesn’t exist. If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all - he shouldn’t have spoken about Santa if he didn’t agree with the parents. If a person I entrusted with the care and education of my six year old did this, I would be furious, and if the school didn’t sack him, I would move my child to another school. There are plenty of people out there who deserve awards for being horrible, cruel, nasty, etc, but I thought this was guy was a particular jerk. Also, being a teacher and therefore a trusted authority figure, parents are in a bind. They can’t tell their shattered six year old that the teacher lied, and it would be hard to find the words to soothe a child who was upset by this revelation. No teacher should inflict this sort of unhappiness on a child for no reason, and parents have the right to decide what’s best for their children! ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/17 "2001-12-02T07:38:07Z")
> [@](#): > > No adult should take the magic of Christmas away from someone else’s children While I agree with this, I also agree that telling children such lies is very wrong. As an aunt, it is very difficult for me to “play the pretend Santa” game. I can’t stand the thought that it’s become what it has, even as a non-Christian. Anymore it’s just a ploy for companies to market the parents and family members to spend more money on more presents. If it it truly a holiday of religious note, then **Santa** as we know him today should not be around. It’s not about the kids, it’s about a Christian holiday celebrating Jesus, not celebrating Santa and him bringing gifts to the children. It’s a holiday to celebrate the life of “the son of God” within the Christian religion. But in today’s society it has, for the most part, become a holiday that has bastardized a religous day. IIRC it has been said that retailers rely upon the day after Thanksgiving through January 1 for 33-45% of their annual sales. If that is in truth then that tells me more than just an innocent “Santa” phenomenom. It’s bastardizing a sacred holiday, which is why I am not religious, no chance that my true beliefs are fucked up. Take Santa out of the picture (as a lie) and you get to the true meaning of this Christian holiday. The teacher was wrong but I think the parents are more wrong to perpetuate such garbage to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/18 "2001-12-02T07:56:44Z")
I’m Jewish. I never believed in Santa Claus, always knew that presents (for both Chanukah and Christmas) came from parents, and to this day have a hard time understanding the whole “big lie to the kids” thing. That said, it was made clear to me from the first time I heard of Santa Claus that under no circumstances was I to tell other kids that Santa didn’t exist. It was part of their tradition that was to be respected. I don’t see anything wrong with explaining Santa to your kids in Cecil’s terms (he exists in the spirit that causes parents and others to buy presents for their kids at Christmas), as long as they understand that they are not to spoil it for the other kids. I don’t feel that I missed out on anything by not believing in the jolly fat man (or any other mythical figure like the Tooth Fairy or the Great Pumpkin). I had (and have) a great imagination and sense of wonder. I personally would not tell my own children fantasy stories and then _pretend that they are true_. But I think that that choice should be up to the individual parents. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/19 "2001-12-02T08:01:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by techchick68 \* > [BThe teacher was wrong but I think the parents are more wrong to perpetuate such garbage to begin with. \*\* Eh? There’s something wrong with a little myth and magic for kids? I’d be very interested in any reasons you have for this? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385/20 "2001-12-02T08:52:57Z")
I would just like to know how ethical is it to force an employee to lie to its clients? And as far as how dare he burst the buble for these kids? Well tough shit thats what you get for lying to your children anyway. Don’t get me wrong, if you want to tell your kids theres a santa: then I’m no one to judge. Just don’t expect me to back you story up is all I’m saying. Btw the day my mom told me there was no santa is the same day I _stoped_ believing in God! My reasons today for being an atheist have changed, but still that is what caused the start of it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-jerk-of-the-year-award-goes-to/96385.md?page=2)