Teacher tells 7 year-olds Santa's Fake.

Don't tell your children lies!
Its eeeevvviiillllll.
Don't let them have any sense of wonder or mystery in the world.
It's deceptioooooooonnnnnn.
Don't hide anything from them or protect them from those who would try to make them into sad little angst ridden miniature adults.
Its dissengenuoussss.


The teacher that stole Christmas.

Fantastic!

Gotta love that full disclosure in childhood program.

This is so great!


Now.......where is that puppy I was kicking... ?

[edit on 11-12-2008 by badgerprints]

Originally posted by thing fish
i told my early that there was no santa. that is something that should be left to the parents to decide when to tell...the teacher shold have known that.
parents have a right to be upset.
gonna read the other 3 pages now

I hope you were as astonished as I was when I got back on and saw this post. I gotta admit... I'm about fifty-fifty here. Not cos I wanna be. But because the amazing points being brought up.

reply to post by saint4God


I'm not going to argue this point with you anymore, it's getting us nowhere. I will add though that for someone who talks so much about respecting others beliefs, you seem to be incapable of respecting mine and others.

I'm going to go home now and talk with my daughter about what she wants Santa to bring for Christmas.

Originally posted by Alexander_Supertramp
As rational beings, we should relish the truth, absolutely! But, children are not rational, they are pure and innocent.

Rationale, purity and innocents can go hand-in-hand...and should.

Originally posted by Alexander_Supertramp
I, personally, seek for as much truth as can be found every day...why should children, who cannot even begin to fathom the harshness of the world, be forced into it before they are mentally capable of handling it?

I'm not sure how you'd come to the conclusion that I would suggest forcing children into handling truths they're not capable of at their age.

[edit on 11-12-2008 by saint4God]

Originally posted by nyk537
I will add though that for someone who talks so much about respecting others beliefs, you seem to be incapable of respecting mine and others.

How have I disrespected your beliefs or others?

reply to post by jackinthebox115


I remember all of our familys getting together that day, and there were a lot of us. As kids, we had the time of our lives that day. We would talk, have a big meal, sing some songs and there was always Christmas music playing on the record player. I remember when it was time that we open our gifts, we could hear the sleigh bells ringing outside, and who walked in? You guessed it, Santa. with a great big bag of gifts for everyone. I remember Santa putting us on his lap to talk to us. When i got a good look at Santa, I saw it was my oldest brother playing the part. But you know what, it didn`t bother me one bit, because I knew he was doing it out of love for us younger kids, and that made it even more special. He`s gone now, but I will never forget those nights as long as I live. There was so much love in the air those nights. It still brings a smile to my face.

Does it really come down to "not lying to your children"? Or is it because Santa might take away the Miracle of Jesus' birth?

Originally posted by jackinthebox115
Does it really come down to "not lying to your children"? Or is it because Santa might take away the Miracle of Jesus' birth?

Not lying to your children. ''Santa" is a red herring towards the Birth of Jesus, but Saint Nicholas had a great message to share (which reflected the birth of Christ).

[edit on 11-12-2008 by saint4God]

in the end there are just flat out some things that a teacher shoudln't do.
i am NOT a religious person. i despise it so everyone knows. that said, there is also the religious angle here that some families have. it is not up to the teacher to disrupt that.
that again is a place for the family

reply to post by saint4God


By always telling children the truth, they would automatically be forced into the real world, without being able to handle it.

"Daddy, why are you leaving?"

"Well son, I no longer love your mother. She is a rotten, dirty woman and I will have no part in her life anymore. I will see you every Saturday for the next couple of years."

I understand you not wanting to tell your kids about Santa, but I don't understand, and I may have the wrong impression, how you think it's best to always tell the truth to children. Santa is too insignificant a lie to matter.

reply to post by saint4God


I'm curious.
What if this same teacher had told your children that Jesus didn't exist?

Originally posted by saint4God

Originally posted by Alexander_Supertramp
I understand that you are entitled to your own views, but you really believe everyone should tell the truth 100% of the time? That is a dramatically black-and-white way to look at things, and that's a dangerous way to live, in my opinion.

Why fear the truth? Don't you want to know the truth? Don't you feel you have the right to know the truth? Why do children not have this right?

There are some things children don't need to know. So no, they are not entitled to the whole truth, 100% of the time. When my kids ask me about a subject that is not appropriate, I explain that we will discuss it when they get older.

Originally posted by badgerprints
I'm curious.
What if this same teacher had told your children that Jesus didn't exist?

Children also need to realize that just because it comes from a teacher that it's not ''gospel truth" though by their occupation they're doing their best to convey it. It should be considered trustworthy but isn't always accurate. For example, one teacher had insisted Texas was the largest state in the U.S. and causing much laughter to the person in my family who insisted it was Alaska. Teachers have a hard job, they do try, but they're not always right by virtue of being a teacher.

[edit on 11-12-2008 by saint4God]

Hey if your gonna tell your kids about Santa, tell them the truth

The Dutch brought with them the traditional "visit" from Sinter Klaas (St. Nicholas) on the eve of Dec. 5. But because the English Protestants did not observe saints days, the Sinter Klaas visit was moved to Christmas Eve and observed then.


Author Washington Irving's (1789-1853), 1809 work "The History of New York (also called the "Knickerbocker History") was a satire on the transplanted customs of the Dutch of New York city. The "History" contained several references to the legend of St. Nicholas as observed by the Dutch. The St. Nicholas described by Irving was an old man in dark robes who arrived on a flying horse on the Eve of St. Nicholas to give gifts to children.


A little know poem, "The Children's Friend," first published in 1821. The poem went beyond what Irving had written, mentioning for the first time a flying sleigh and a reindeer. The poem begins:

Old Santeclaus with much delight
His reindeer drives this frosty night.
O'er chimney tops, and tracks of snow,
To bring his yearly gifts to you...

Dr. Clement Clark Moore, a theology and classics professor at Union Seminary, wrote a simple poem for his children in 1822 entitled, "A Visit from St. Nicholas," that begins with the now famous words,

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In the hope that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

In describing St. Nicholas, Moore went beyond anything that had ever been said yet. It was Moore who increased the number of reindeer to eight and gave us their names. It was he who explicitly described Santa going up and down the chimney leaving toys in stockings hung by the fireplace. Moore's St. Nick was "chubby and plump a right jolly old elf;" he carried a bundle of toys on his back; "he had eyes that twinkled, dimples that were merry, cheeks like roses, a broad face, and a little round belly." It's interesting that Moore's Santa was also a small elf who flew in a "miniature sleigh" pulled by eight "tiny" reindeer.

Bavarian illustrator Thomas Nast gave us the picture of Santa Claus, now so common. Nast, the "father of American political cartooning," drew more than 2200 cartoons for Harper's Weekly from 1862 through 1886. Many of these were of Santa Claus at Christmas time. Before Nast, St. Nicholas had been pictured as everything from a stern looking bishop to a gnome-like figure in a frock (as he had been pictured in the first edition of Moore's poem). Nast was clearly inspired by Moore's 1823 poem, but he also added additional features to the Santa Claus evolution, such as Santa's home at the North Pole, his workshop filled with elves, and his list of all the good and bad children of the world.

The Coca-Cola company also contributed to the modern Santa Claus. Beginning in 1931 and for 35 years, Coke ran advertisements that featured a human-size Santa (not elf-size) drinking Coke. These ads contributed much to the modern image of Santa Claus (and the drinking of coke!).

Originally posted by badgerprints
No.
Make them face the fact that the world is full of twisted angry soulless ghouls who think fairness is to crush a childs spirit and convince him that the future is bleak and hopeless. The only thing to believe in is anger and hate for those that don't see things your way. The only purpose is to convince others that life is empty and bleak. The ony truth is empty purpose and parents who have a sense of imagination or wonder are the worst thing that could happen to a child.

You should realize that just because some people support the phasing out of a legend that was used more as a means to influence positive behaviour from children under threat (be good or no presents) does not necessitate that the supporters are harnigers of doom and see the world as a hopeless wasteland.

There are many great things in this world that are real...what's wrong in giving the positive points of truth and that which is real priority over a commercialized lie?

Originally posted by secretstash
There are some things children don't need to know. So no, they are not entitled to the whole truth, 100% of the time. When my kids ask me about a subject that is not appropriate, I explain that we will discuss it when they get older.

I don't see any problem with this. You can reserve the details for later and explain that it's not good for now. No need to make up lies to explain.

[edit on 11-12-2008 by saint4God]

From the Daily Mail, (original article)

Primary school teacher who told children: 'Santa does not exist' is fired

When excited youngsters became rowdy as they talked about Santa, the supply teacher blurted out: 'It's your parents who leave out presents on Christmas Day.'

She did not have to tell them that Santa doesn't exists just because a bunch of 7 year olds are getting rowdy!

The class of seven-year-olds at Blackshaw Lane Primary School, Royton, near Oldham, Greater Manchester burst into tears and told their parents when they arrived home.
******SKIP******
'My lad was in tears and so was everyone else in the class - especially as it was so close to Christmas.

There are a lot of other ways the substitute could have calmed the kids down without letting them in on "the secret of Santa".

She could have told them that they "better listen because Santa is watching", or a whole lot of other things besides telling them Santa wasn't real.

Shame on you, bad substitute!

[Removed by poster, response to off-topic statement]

[edit on 11-12-2008 by saint4God]

WE didn't teach our children about santa claus.
But, I told my children NOT to tell the other children.
I was also brought up without him, because my single mother was too poor to give us much for Christmas and she didn't want us to feel like we were HATED by santa! lol
It was NOT this teachers job to do that.