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Is Santa silly?

Arran

I'm writing this as someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas in either a religious or cultural sense. From a young age I was told that Santa doesn't exist and is just a silly hoax that parents play on their kids. It never affected me in any bad way and neither was I expecting to find wrapped presents mysteriously appear on the morning of the 25th day of December. If anybody in my family received a Christmas gift then it was usually opened on the same day. A downside to this is that even from the age of 4 or 5 I went round telling kids at school "Father Christmas isn't real, it's all made up, your parents buy Christmas presents from the shops" which often resulted in me getting into trouble whenever they got upset. I once had to report to the head teacher after completely reducing a classmate to tears.

Is the concept of Santa a silly nonsense or is it part of the joys of childhood? Do you tell your own children the truth or would you prefer to go along with the cultural norm? Is pleasing one's classmates more important than knowing the truth? What about children at school who follow different religions so do not celebrate Christmas - where do they fit in?

Parents

  • ...and just for good measure:

    http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/12/14/santa.christmas.kids/

    "By 8 or 9, most children know the jig is up, development experts said. But the crafty kids feign belief in Santa hoping their enthusiasm will be rewarded in the form of Christmas presents.

    "Kids are smart," said Charles Smith, a Kansas State University expert in child development. "They realize he's not real even before parents think they understand that."

    "The realization for kids comes gradually, rather than through one defining moment, said Slotterback, who conducted a survey of college students about their family memories of Santa Claus."

    "Slotterback, professor of psychology at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, said believing in Santa is not damaging.

    "Researchers show that children who participate in fantasy-type play tend to do better and advance cognitively. It's not a harmful thing," she said."

Reply

  • ...and just for good measure:

    http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/12/14/santa.christmas.kids/

    "By 8 or 9, most children know the jig is up, development experts said. But the crafty kids feign belief in Santa hoping their enthusiasm will be rewarded in the form of Christmas presents.

    "Kids are smart," said Charles Smith, a Kansas State University expert in child development. "They realize he's not real even before parents think they understand that."

    "The realization for kids comes gradually, rather than through one defining moment, said Slotterback, who conducted a survey of college students about their family memories of Santa Claus."

    "Slotterback, professor of psychology at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, said believing in Santa is not damaging.

    "Researchers show that children who participate in fantasy-type play tend to do better and advance cognitively. It's not a harmful thing," she said."

Children
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