A bit of history: the Christmas character known as Santa Clause is loosely based upon St. Nicholas, a bishop from Myra who devoted his inheritance to assist the needy, sick, and suffering. St. Nicholas was well known for his generosity, his love of children, and his concern for sailors and ships (he was named the patron saint of sailors). Santa Clause today is an extremely popular figure, especially around this time of year, however, that does not mean that we should accept the Santa Clause tradition. We, as a society, need to re-think this tradition of lying to our children. Santa Clause may forever be a symbol of Christmas in America, but it is unethical to encourage our children to believe this myth.
Parents who encourage the Santa Clause myth must perpetually lie to their children. This is not the same as a little white lie or a lie told for the good of their child; keeping up the Santa Clause myth requires a long string of lies and defenses which need to be elaborated on over time.. A good parent builds their relationship with their child on trust, not dishonesty; you know the consequences. Another repercussion of keeping the myth alive is that in order to do so a parent discourages skepticism. As they are asked more and more questions about Santa Clause, parents make up more tales about this man and his supernatural powers.
I think that the worst part of the Santa Clause myth is the lesson it teaches our children about rewards and punishment for good and bad behavior. The Santa Clause myth implies that Santa Clause is constantly watching you (mildly parallel to Big Brother of 1984) and judging you as "naughty or nice" based on your good and bad actions. Children learn that through good acts they will be rewarded with presents and through bad acts they will be punished with a piece of coal. It is not the right lesson to learn; children should be taught to be good not for the sake of reward or from fear of punishment, but because it is the better thing to do. Similarly, it is unethical to control your children through Santa Clause.
Lastly, Santa Clause is incredibly similar to Jesus and God: he has supernatural powers and he rewards or punishes children based on his own definition of good or bad deeds; his existence is implausible, yet you must be a believer to get the rewards. I hope you consider all of these thoughts before you and your children put out a plate of milk and cookies for this powerful stranger.
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3 comments:
Thanks, for your post. I'm no longer disappointed. I am not a Christian. And, I don't partake in the Christ-Mass Holi-Day, consumer or otherwise. I celebrate everyday. I am grateful that I need not wait for one day in the year to love.
There was this kid I knew who asked her parents, when young, if Santa was real. The parents said he was. There were some kids down the street, however, who told her the truth.
Later she lost her baby teeth, and her parents told her the tooth fairy would leave money under her pillow. The kids down the street told her the truth.
They told her about the Easter Bunny, too….how he’d fill your basket with chocolate eggs. The kids down the street told her the truth.
She reached adolescence and her responsible parents told her about sex. The kids down the street had an explanation too, not to mention a demonstation. Her parents had always been full of nonsense. The kids down the street had always been right. Who do you suppose she listened to?
Yours was a very thoughtful post.
So when your child pretend plays with dolls or puts on shows or uses her imagination to fantisize do you tell her that there are not really people there, or that she should'nt talk to her dolls because they are plastic? The truth is the truth. Does it make your child love you more or less. I dont think they grow up resenting you because you lied about Santa. I think they resent parents more when they are too busy online instead of being with them. So that means goodbye for me. Hope the truth works out for ya. Does sheepandgoats make sense?
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