Originally posted by Lee_K
Personally I would be upset at this! Christmas is a magical time for kids believing in santa! Especially when you see all the bad things on the news everyday! Its nice to have something nice going on elsewhere. Even if it is just imagination. And it doesnt do much for the bond between kid and parent when they turn round and say 'my teacher said santa isnt real.' What do you say to that!? 'Ah yes I lied to you... Sorry!' They'll never believe a thing you say again!

[edit on 11-12-2008 by Lee_K]

How does that change any other way? If the teacher says it, you say it, the bus driver sas it, your pastor says it... It's still going to tear at the imagination you helped to build.

Originally posted by CX
I'd have been hacked off if this was my kids.

Who has the right to tell kids that age, or of any age what they can and can't believe in, or try to persuade them otherwise?

I have a real issue with this kind of thing

Ummm... Well, if you tell them to believe in it, aren't you doing the same thing you are hating others for doing?

Originally posted by badgerprints
I've got a great grasp of one thing. I know that behavioralists and psychologists spend a lot of time putting their problems on others.

right, forget the years of progress, you know best. It is you who is the authority on the matter of psychology, not the people who have been studying and working in the field for decades.

My daughter knew right from wrong at a very young age.
She knew that Santa wasn't real at a very young age.
I never had to force her to be kind or giving. She is a very sweet girl who is kind to people because she wants to be.
She understood right and wrong very early in life.

Right, because thats what you observed? You observed her knowing? She may have followed the rules well, but that doesnt necessarily mean she understood why they were rules. Chances are she merely imitated what the adults were doing. In which case, you are a great parent and I commend you.

She may have been a very intelligent young child, but that still doesn't mean she understood right from wrong, just that she knew X was right and Y was wrong, and acted accordingly. Psychology is not in your favor, and I will take psychology over "my child was this or that" anyday. Why, because to be frank, you are bias in the matter. It is your child. You want her to be able to understand right from wrong at the earliest age possible.

I don't blame you, if your child was my child, I would be saying the exact same things. "My child knew" but in reality, years of research says otherwise. That children don't have the capacity to know right from wrong at 2-6 years old. At 7 they are starting to get it, but thats right around the time santa starts to go out the window, nullifying the point of telling them santa exist.

As for your other statements, don't blame me for decades of studies and research. For a majority of human history, kids were treated as subjects pretty much. Nobody really cared about whether or not they understood right from wrong, just that they followed it, and they did. Was it right? I am not one to say what is or isn't right. Did it work? Yes, because young children are not capable of the abstract thought process necessary to understand right and wrong concepts. Wish they were, but they aren't.

Originally posted by jackinthebox115
If this happened to my children I don't think I would be outraged. But I would be disappointed. I like that my 9 and 6 year olds still believe in Santa. In a world where kids see and do a lot more then they should..a little Christmas magic is an ok thing.

Completely agree! There is nothing wrong with the Holiday cheer and magic that goes along with it.

But I also think that maybe the teacher shouldnt have gone so far as to blatiantly state there is no Santa. That is devistating to a child's heart at that age. The teacher should have thought a bit about that before saying anything at all.



Cheers!!!!

Reaper, would you please knock the name calling off? It`s not wanted or needed here.

I can't believe I'm reading this on ATS of all places. Most of you believe in magical reptilians, secret underground bases, the illuminati, space aliens, secret societies and planet x, and yet you all still place shame on the parents for letting their kids believe in santa claus? Give me a freakin break. Most of what you believe on this site is nothing more than "MAGIC."

By the way, I'm real.

Did no one here believe in Santa? Did no one hear from their parents or the cold cruel world that Santa was not real at some point in your lives? Do you still trust your parents?

All this talk about little kids hating their parents because they lied to them about santa seems a little off to me.

I believed in santa. I used to go outside with my dad and listen for sleigh bells and try to find rudolph's red nose in the night sky...I'd leave cookies out for Santa and celery for the reindeer. It was my favorite part of Christmas. Not because Santa brought me presents, but because it seemed so magical. It really set off the Christmas spirit for me. But did I hate my parents when I found out santa was fake? Nope. Because I still held that christmas spirit with me.

Point being, I think it's ridiculous to say that you should not tell your kids about santa because they'll think you're a worthless liar when they find out he's fake. I know no people who hate their parents because they found out santa didn't exist.

response to grimreaper797

Hats off to your professional opinion.
I guess you win. You've got the degree and years of research.
All I've got is my own biased opinion about my own child. Clearly, I must be wrong.

She had me fooled - the little imp - she didn't really have any feelings beyond her own selfish behavioral programming.
I guess I was wasting my time.


Once again.
Merry Christmas




[edit on 11-12-2008 by badgerprints]