Posted on 12/15/2014 10:32:22 AM PST by The Looking Spoon
Apparently, Elf on the Shelf is evil...
No, not that kind of evil (are "fun-loving" antics from inanimate dolls "evil"?) This kind of evil.
Could there be something more sinister behind the little elf sitting on the shelf who returns to the North Pole each night?
Yes, says Laura Pinto, a digital technology professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.
She recently published a paper titled “Who’s the Boss” on the doll, saying the idea of it reporting back to Santa each night on the child’s behavior “sets up children for dangerous, uncritical acceptance of power structures,” according toinsideHalton.com.
From her paper:
When children enter the play world of The Elf on the Shelf, they accept a series of practices and rules associated with the larger story. This, of course, is not unique to The Elf on the Shelf....The difference, however, is that in other games, the child role-plays a character, or the child imagines herself within a play-world of the game, but the role play does not enter the child’s real world as part of the game....
“You’re teaching (kids) a bigger lesson, which is that it’s OK for other people to spy on you and you’re not entitled to privacy,” she tells the Toronto Star.
She calls the elf “an external form of non-familial surveillance,” and says it’s potentially conditioning children to accept the state acting that way, too.
My family has been doing EOTS for a couple of years now. It's something fun that makes the Santa part of Christmas more real to kids....KIDS...who STILL believe in Santa.
The only long lasting effect, to me, is the remembering how magical it must've felt to have one of Santa's actual elves visiting them at Christmas time.
This isn't going going inculcate them with a tolerance for being spied on by an authoritarian government because when they get old enough to be smart enough to know that Santa doesn't really exist they'll also be smart enough (I will certainly make sure of this) to know the difference between the two.
This is nothing more than just another miserable and bored officer in the fun police looking for something to moan about. Besides the results are in, Santa is conservative and not a liberal statist. :-)
I would, however, fully support an "academic" paper (the quotes are totally justified in Ms. Pinto's case) accusing the EOTS makers of employing mercenary sock and underpants gnomes of invading homes and "losing" the darn elves so we have to spend another $30 bucks to keep the "tradition" going for the kids.
Not that I had to do that this year for my kids...except that I did... :-/
Is this part of the marketing campaign for the book/toy?
It’s not like EOTS is the only behavior modification tool ...
“Mommy, why is it raining?”
“It’s raining because Jesus is crying, honey.”
“Why is Jesus crying, mommy?”
“It’s probably something you did.”
With all the real government intrusions out there ... Elf on a Shelf is what lights some people up ... geez
If it is it’s not on my part...and I don’t think the negative light Ms. Pinto shines on it helps, unless she’s an expert in reverse psychology.
““sets up children for dangerous, uncritical acceptance of power structures,”
This type of thing gives me a big,fat headache.
Kids SHOULD accept power structures because,like it or not,that’s the way life is.
.
I have kids and my wife loves “Elf on the Shelf”. I personally find a narc elf a bit creepy. When I was a kid and I still believed in Santa Claus I probably would have snuck up behind the ratting stooge with a bag and carted him to the trash.
Sure, but it’s a HUGE leap to say loving this toy translates into the trampling of civil rights, is it not?
“Sure, but it’s a HUGE leap to say loving this toy translates into the trampling of civil rights, is it not?”
That it is.
.
I have a girlfriend who sets up these same little ‘scenarios’ for her kids overnight when she finds their toys where they shouldn’t be. Plastic dinosaurs who have gotten into the cereal or cooking supplies, etc.
The kids adore it. She is the Best. Mom. Ever. And her kids are super-smart, polite, well-mannered and a JOY to be around versus most of the sniveling brats in my life, LOL!
No psychological damage, so far...
Elf on the Shelf revealed to be part of secret NSA spying program
Top secret documents leaked by former contractor Edward Let-It-Snowden reveal a previously unknown NSA program code-named SANTA (Securing America's Noel Toy Allotment). A key component of the SANTA program is the use of hidden recording and transmitting devices in Elf on the Shelf dolls. The Elf on the Shelf dolls allow the NSA to secretly monitor citizens from inside their own homes.
Via the SANTA program the NSA has been able to collect highly personal data about millions of America's children, including but not limited to
◾When they are sleeping
◾When they are awake
◾Whether they've been bad or good
Additionally, the children are asked to name each Elf on the Shelf, which serves as a subversive psychological exam. Although the details of the NSA's criteria are not fully known, examples in the leaked documents indicate that naming an Elf on the Shelf "Bob" or "George Washington" or "Eagle" results in a rating of "nice." Naming an Elf on the Shelf "Osama" or "Saddam" or "Death to America" will result in a household being flagged as "naughty" likely leading to a drone strike.
Since the program has become public many have criticized SANTA's spying as a violation of civil liberties, an example of unlawful monitoring, and a gross abuse of power. Others, however, feel the scope of the SANTA program is too limited.
"The biggest weakness of SANTA is that it only monitors families who celebrate Christmas," said one Republican lawmaker. "It turns out a lot of people don't even celebrate Christmas. At all. Can you imagine? Those are the people we should be watching."
The best way to avoid being monitored is to boycott the Elf on the Shelf product. If, however, you already have an Elf on the Shelf in your home you can wrap it in aluminum foil to prevent it from transmitting data to SANTA.
Remember the great things Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbs) used to do to snow-people?
When our 10 year old daughter wanted a shelf elf, I declined for the same reason I never respond to FB posts that order you to watch this or respond to this or share this, or take this survey or a multitude of other things. My daughter deserves all the time I can give her, but I draw the line with having come up with daily elf situations to amuse, especially when my wife said she won’t have anything to do with it either.
It’s not evil, it’s stupid.
My mind was really in the gutter, thinking I knew what’s in the box by the way he’s holding it.
That’s really what it should boil down to, right? It should be a parent’s choice. There’s nothing wrong with not doing it, which should go without saying.
I’ve noticed that some of the craze is driven by parental peer-pressure. That’s not why we do it. We (my wife and I) think it’s something fun for the kids so we do it. Truth be told we put pretty much no effort into it compared to what others do. We just pick a new place for it to sit every day, and that’s the beginning and end of it for us. Neither of us have the time, energy, or desire to concoct the elaborate scenarios that some do for this.
More evidence that liberalism is a mental disorder.
I just got an EOTS as a gift recently and am having a ball trying to think up *things* for the little guy to do.
Our grandkids are 2500 miles away but I’m enjoying putting him out at night for my husband to see in the morning.
Jeez, maybe I should ask him if it’s psychologically damaging to him.....
Most of my attitude about the shelf elf has to do with our daughter’s best friend’s mom complaining to us about being tasked with daily elf nonsense.
My problem with the “Elf”? It is a secular replacement for the Advent Calendar.
The elf is about Santa Claus. The Advent calendar is about Christ.
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