# What should children be taught about Santa Claus? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 14, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-children-be-taught-about-santa-claus/477126 "2008-12-14T16:47:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Latro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@Latro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latro)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-children-be-taught-about-santa-claus/477126/61 "2008-12-18T16:57:08Z")
Sad thing is… You probably actually believe your own little Santa myth. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-children-be-taught-about-santa-claus/477126/62 "2008-12-18T17:12:27Z")
Does a flying reindeer sleigh make a whooshing sound? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-children-be-taught-about-santa-claus/477126/63 "2008-12-19T03:38:04Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > Does this mean you consider them to be myths just like Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy and Esater Bunny and are hoping that your kid figures it out? Basically. Although my personal belief (I’m too am an atheist) is that Jesus did in fact exist as a mortal on this planet. He was probably a pretty decent guy and he probably did try to help people out. He was mortal though. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-children-be-taught-about-santa-claus/477126/64 "2008-12-19T14:30:37Z")
Just my opinion but I think one of the valid roles of a parent is to try to transfer their values to their children. Using fairy tales, myths or just pretend things to explain concepts is not a bad thing. However, the key is how do you make the transition. By the time most children figure out there is no Santa, they can understand real/pretend and at least the vague concept of analogies. A parent who uses the Santa (or Tooth Fairy, etc) myth should have an idea of how to deal with the end of the belief. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-children-be-taught-about-santa-claus/477126/65 "2008-12-20T03:25:28Z")
If it’s presented to the kid as a fun fairytale, I don’t see how it’s any different or worse than any other bedtime story. Very few people have bad memories surrounding the revelation that Hansel and Gretel weren’t real, because it’s typically not claimed that they were. But it _is_ fun make-believe, and can still be fun even when grounded in the understanding of how reality and make-believe are different things. If, on the other hand, someone is making concerted efforts to convince the kid that Santa is Real, I think that’s pretty awful. To start with, people are going to be lying to your kids their entire lives; why start any earlier than necessary? [And then there’s stuff like this](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-santa-letter-05-dec05,0,641671.story): > [@](#): > > “I just want what any regular girl would want,” writes 9-year-old Annisha from Chicago, promising to give Santa unlimited milk and cookies if he doesn’t skip over her house like he did last year. How shitty is it for a kid to believe that she wasn’t “good enough” and made Santa skip over her house? How heartbreaking. I’d think it would be bad enough for a kid to have to have a Christmas with no presents, nevermind blaming themselves for that. What a horrible thing to do to a child. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-children-be-taught-about-santa-claus/477126/66 "2008-12-20T03:41:02Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Children should be taught the **truth:** There really **is** a Santa Claus. And he really **does** know if you’ve been bad or good. And he’s got this really, really mean side that nobody ever talks about. Sleep tight! 😃 Another Invader Zim fan? You’ve been a bad little boy! Now Santa must destroy you! ---
**Author:** ![RedWood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f08c70/32.png) [@RedWood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedWood)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-children-be-taught-about-santa-claus/477126/67 "2008-12-20T14:39:54Z")
When I was a little girl, I knew there was a Santa 🙂 When I was a bigger girl, I thought there was no Santa ☹ Now I am grown, and I know the glorious truth! ``` :D We are ALL Santa! :D ``` ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-children-be-taught-about-santa-claus/477126/68 "2008-12-22T17:11:49Z")
I wish I had been given accurate information about Santa’s myth status. I don’t like believing in him for the 500 milliseconds after I recognize his name or image and before I remember the gist of the whole package. I wanted to understand reality, but I got this myth instead. But I also have to wonder how I would feel about it if I had been given good information, so I’m not very confident promoting the “no myth” preference to others. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-children-be-taught-about-santa-claus/477126.md?page=3)