As I mentioned above, there is a spike in behavioral problems in many schools just prior to Christmas. I don’t believe it is because the poor kids necessarily believe that they have been bad and therefore don’t deserve anything.
Rather it is often a growing realization of the stark contrast between those who have and those who don’t. Now some of this can be overcome if the parents focus on the holidays as being a family time rather than focusing on gifts. Nonetheless it isn’t just the kids who feel the weight of their poverty. Many parents feel guilty about not being able to meet the expectations of their children. While the guilt and bitternessmay be internalized, it is sometimes transferred to the children.
Indeed. And when our kids figured it out, we told them not to squeal on Santa to their friends.
I’m of the opinion that the appropriate response to “Is Santa real?” is “What do you think?” not Yes or No.
If a kid asked “where do babies cone from?” do you think a full sex ed class with full diagrams would be appropriate for 1st graders?
My school -in the UK- had sex ed class with video of nude adults* talking about genital anatomy and sex, with cartoon animations of the mechanics of baby making, when we were age 6-7. Can’t say it scarred me. Didn’t surprise me either; I already knew the basics at that age, as did most of the other kids.
My parents were invited to the school to view it first, and choose which of the several videos they had we’d be shown, if that helps (‘They invited us to a porn night!’- Dad, a few years later).
*and a kid, roughly the same age as us. I mainly remember feeling sorry for the boy in the film, figuring he’d probably get bullied if his classmates saw it.
I’m not saying any of that is entirely untrue. It’s just that suggestion that this could be combated by debunking Santa Claus is ridiculous IMO. Even deeply thought through collective social engineering is fraught. On that kind of shallow level it’s ridiculous, IMO. Yes people feel inadequate because they don’t have as much as other people. But that’s a deep part and nearly universal part of the human condition.
And the number of people who literally can’t give anything to kids at Christmas, through any local program at all if they try…that’s largely imaginary or a rhetorical device. It’s a relative issue. A consumerist holiday which calls attention to some people’s ability to buy more stuff, OK that’s a part of a large scale problem of people making themselves miserable by comparing themselves to others, a big problem with people’s morale. Literal want with no way to address it if the person really tries to access all available resources public and private? That isn’t non-existent in the US but there’s much less of it. Anyway the cultural myth of Santa himself is only one small part of that whole modern consumerist idea of Christmas.
Doesn’t need to be that graphic, but if a kid thinks babies come from storks, the teacher should correct that.
Exactly. The stork brings babies.
That was an age appropriate class, with parental approval. Fine with me. But if a teacher (or a sub) decided to spring that on the c;lass without approval there would be hell to pay. Even if they were convinced of the benefits.
Perhaps by telling the kid to talk to his or her parents about it?
I was helping a friend by coming in every few weeks to do second grade science - not teach it but to motivate the kids to think that science is exciting. I was going to do simple human evolution. No way. One kid’s father was a 7th Day Adventist, and said before that he would sue the school if his son was exposed to evolution. Okay for second grade - I’ll let the high school science teachers fight that one. And we are as far from the Bible Belt as you can get, and our high school bio books are very good about evolution. Still, let’s pick our battles.
Oh please; Santa Claus fun isn’t like telling kids two plus two is six.
We were raised in a [del]cult[/del] Seventh-day Adventist type church which means we were fucked out of all the good holidays. As an adult I still don’t observe Christmas because having never done so it seems like a strange tradition to me. But I digress.
Anyway, so my siblings and I all knew there was no Santa Clause and what a crock it was. And we took great delight in wising up our classmates. In first grade I had about 27 kids bawling in the hallway.
They wanted to punish me by taking away my recess for a week and make me sit inside while the other kids went out and played. My old man nipped that in the ass. Told them I had done nothing but tell the truth, and his son was not going to be punished for not lying.
But he did explain to me how some knowledge needs to remain secret. So I didn’t tell him how in late December I would have preferred to stay inside during recess. I have always hated winter! :mad:
And the teachers didn’t see through the “But it’s teh TROOOOOOOFFFFF!” defense? Wow.
I sure am glad you’re so pleased with yourself for making children cry, though. That’s awesome.
I could have just hit them over the head with my metal lunchbox and made them cry that way. Would that be better?
You’re really going to get pissed over something I did in 1967 when I was 7 years old?
I thought you worked with kids? You know what bastards the little devils can be to each other don’t you?
Yeah, I was the Dickens, I’ll tell you that.
And I took great delight it filling them in on the facts.
Hey, they all got presents on the 25th, I didn’t. So I figured screw 'em!
…no. No, that wouldn’t be better. What a question.
Absolutely. What I’m not accustomed to is an adult being proud of their childhood cruelties.
All the ways kids torment each other year round I don’t think telling kids there is no Santa once a year is the crime of the century. :rolleyes:
By third grade I had some of those kids approach me and say “hey, Pete. You were right about Santa. My parents made the whole thing up”. Heh. Vindication is sweet!
One kid, Steve Hardin, was bitterly pissed at his mom for lying to him. I doubt most kids get like that when they realize the truth. But that guy was angry! I think it’s because she was a single parent and was the only person he thought he could count on.
And even after Santa False was exposed those kids still got presents. So I regret not my tormenting.
How often and in what way does this topic even come up, I mean, are religion, mythology, and religious holidays normally subjects of
classroom discussion in New Jersey? (As part of the teacher’s curriculum, not during little kids’ playtime banter.)
Well in my experience, no. That is as a school child in the 70s and my own kids in the 00s. But that is all I can cover, but I see no reason why it would be part of a curriculum.