Around the world Christmas is celebrated in all different ways and called by many different names, but regardless of these differences many countries share something in common. That jolly old man who spends one night a year delivering gifts to good children all over the globe.
Whether you call him Santa Claus, Saint Nick, Père Noël, or even Kris Kringle, which is of course is what the Germans decided to call him, we all know the story that if your good all year round toys will be waiting for you on Christmas morning. In any popular Christmas movie or song you will year about this magical man however, an on going debate that has recently gained more popular suggests that telling children about old Saint Nick.
So how can a seemingly harmless tradition can be viewed as a harmful lie? Truth is that although children will naturally grow out of their beliefs in fantasies and imagination but many parents argue that this can be considered harmful and deceptive or just down right disappointing for their child in the long run. Young children are told every year that if you’re bad you’ll get a lump of coal instead of their desired gifts, and all parents know that this isn’t true. This raises the question whether we should continue using a myth to motivate good conduct.
Though there are many new controversies over Santa Claus’s role in daily lives there are still those who oppose the idea of taking him away from our holiday season. All our lives Santa has been seen as a symbol of Christmas time to the point it’s almost impossible for one to not recognize him. At local malls there’s meet-and-greets, in town parades he rides on a float, and every store you walk in you’ll see his face on at least twenty different wrapping papers because apparently they’re all very different. It’s clear that the myth is near impossible to escape regardless of personal opinion on the matter. So what is the reasoning behind continuing this?
Some parents have argued that though yes, it is lying and children may be disappointed for a short time in the future this doesn’t take away from the anticipation he brings to this time of year. Believing in Santa at a young age can give a sense of magic or even wonder to Christmas time. The idea of a man going all over the world to bring joy to their lives every year promotes not only good behavior in children but also an appreciation for that one day of the year where every gathers and gives. Children will grow and begin to wonder if he’s real and that’s a conversation nobody is excited for but at least they will have known what it was like to want to stay up as late as the can to see him or wake up and see that the cookies were all eaten.
So, what do you think you’ll tell your kids to prepare them for the Christmas season?