No Santa? No way! News anchor sorry for dashing kids' dreams

[H-con]

I can see the point the news anchor was trying to make, but I honestly think it's up to the parents to decide whether their kids will believe that kind of stuff.

As much as it's true that parents directly and indirectly affect what a child believes, I don't believe believing in santa or anything like that is necessary to enjoy christmas as a kid, nor to preserve the "magic" of christmas (could of course be because I never believed in santa to begin with, nor anything else similar either). Making your kids believe in santa is hardly the worst lie a parent can tell a child, but it's more the general view that parents should affect what the child believes in such a drastic way it really is that's the problem.

However, my biggest issue with this outcry is that I certainly don't think that santa is needed to keep the "magic" of christmas alive.

 

[Nicoleta01]

But I ask, what's a 'mea culpa'?

Mea culpa is usually translated from Latin as being "my bad" or "my fault"

 

[bell02+]

I think most young kids know there is no Santa (a lot of holiday programming spills those beans), it's all about how long a kid can keep their parents believing that they believe in Santa!

 

[Laterose]

I actually find this hilarious. I'm horrible.

I don't know what I'd do with my own future kids, because on one hand I'd feel horrible lying to them... but on the other hand, Santa is one of the great incentives parents get to pull out around the holidays to get their kids to behave a little more, maybe, sometimes. XD Also, seeing little kids enchanted by Christmas magic is just precious.

I'm so conflicted.

 

[proserpina]

I was a cynical child (and I also helped my parents buy and wrap presents for other family members). It was never hidden from me that Santa doesn't exist and that didn't really take much away from Christmas for me - but maybe that's because I never believed that magic in the first place. I don't think this woman has done anything wrong because I've never known anyone who genuinely believed in Father Christmas at any age in particular, but that's just me.

 

[Geodude]

The whole concept of getting kids to believe in Santa is and always has been hypocritical. How are parents supposed to teach kids the value of honesty when they lie to them about where their Christmas presents come from?

 

[GatoRage]

It would be OK for them to say Jesus didn't exist, but they can't say that Santa exists...

Well, he's dead ain't he.

 

[BaileyPlaysPokemon]

This reminds me of when I learned that Santa wasn't real. I was in church, surrounded by a bunch of other 4, 5, or 6 year olds (can't remember) and our PASTOR told us Santa didn't exist. We were all distraught.

I suppose that, while it might be a big deal now, quite honestly nobody is going to care how they found out Santa wasn't real anyways. In fact, I think those kids that were devastated will now have a fantastic story to tell in several years, much like I have the story about my pastor!

 

[Almonds]

I remember how shocked I was when I learned from a friend that Santa wasn't real - I can't imagine how many kids would be shocked as well - and that came from someone on TV.

 

[J J M]

It's like taking what kids believe in away from them. D:

But tbh, kids ought to learn to differentiate between fantasy and reality. It's kinda okay if they believe in Santa at a very young age. But continuing to believe it beyond 4-5 years old is really not that great for everyone.

It's much better if you break it to them early on than fuel the belief for years and years and then one fine morning someone says, "Sorry kid. Santa doesn't exist. I just ruined your childhood."

 

[proserpina]

Letting kids believe in whatever they want to imagine is true at a young age is part of letting them be kids. However, unrealistically maintaining such lies or actively preventing others from telling them the truth is a little bit, well, sad, if you ask me. But again. Perhaps I and pretty much all of my friends ever were all just very cynical, mature children. D;

 

[davidstrike]

That is just MEAN

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I've yet to meet a teenager or college-age bloke who believed in Santa.

It's not going to blind them for life. Let the kids indulge in their fantasy land where a big guy with a beard who lives in the North Pole with a bunch of toy-making elves delivers presents to all the good boys and girls once a year on a sleigh driven by flying reindeer for no other reason than that he's a really nice guy.

 

[Raves]

Somehow I think I'll have to invest in a gun and start shooting redbreasts outside windows to prevent this horror from ever happening again.