"And she was reading to 6 year old kids, right?
"
Six year olds? How many six year olds do you suppose still believe that Santa Claus is a real figure? I gave that nonsense up at age 4, for pete's sake.
Santa is a nice symbolic figure, with roots in Christianity. This teacher taught those roots to these kids. She's not anti-Christian at all, as far as I can tell.
Santa Claus is a mythological figure. Santa does not really exist. It is the idea of Santa Claus that is attractive. At age six, this will not be the first time these kids will have been exposed to the fact that Santa is not real. Other kids will have disabused them of that fact already, I guarantee.
No! It can't be.... Aaaaaarrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!
Merry Christmas, indeed!
I hope the vast majority.
I have two 7's going on 8, and I too was a child at one time.
I think I know from first hand experience what they believe and how their beliefs will evolve and serve them as they grow and gain in understanding of symbols of love and caring for others.
Our house will ALWAYS be a more special place and they will ALWAYS feel a little more special because, as small kids, they believed in miracles, they believe that one occurrs here in our family room, and they believe a good loving figure validated their wishes and their goodness and worthiness with his magic powers.... one night a year.
Even the charity gifts are delivered to poor families in the projects here by a volunteer dressed as....Santa Claus. For one moment of one night each year, anyone of any age can feel universally loved and cared for and worthy of receiving a loving miracle.
At least, that's how I grew up and how I hope they will chose to raise their own kids someday.
I also think I am the best guide for my kids about how and why our family chooses to celebrate Christmas, not some substitute teacher with a chip on her shoulder about the mythical "Judeao-Christian God", Santa Claus as a "symbol" of Him, and the misery she feels at others' "misguided" beliefs. Somehow I think "Santa" skipped this teacher as a child. Poor sad little girl growing up with "reality"... now a poor sad bitter woman existing only in "reality".
Santa Claus is a mythological figure. Santa does not really exist. It is the idea of Santa Claus that is attractive. At age six, this will not be the first time these kids will have been exposed to the fact that Santa is not real. Other kids will have disabused them of that fact already, I guarantee.
Woa woa woa. There is to a santa claus. Where is the moderator to kicked this guy off our site.
My 5 year old and 10 year old still believe. I tell them that Santa and Jesus are friends.
We put out a piece of Jesus' birthday cake for santa instead of cookies. If a teacher EVER thought it their right to tell my kids that Santa doesn't exist, I would be so mad.
A few years ago, I was unemployed at Christmas time and told my kids that the only way we were going to have presents was if God and Santa got together and decided to provide it for them. We woke up to a black trash bag on my porch filled with presents, and no idea where it came from. We have also been blessed by the generosity of our fellow freepers.
One the better humor threads of 2005.
Uh, I believed until I was 7 or 8. My daughter just found out at 8, and she is one of the only kids in her class. Kids LIKE to believe in Santa and don't easily give it up.
That said, I DO kind-of have a problem with Santa in the public schools and that is that they keep the "fun" parts of Christmas and totally disassociate it from the religious. My daughter attended public school for one year and the principal told them that there were giant gingerbread men roaming the school at night, leaving notes for the kids and etc. I had one heck of a time convincing my daughter that was made-up BS.
I have a six year-old and a ten year-old, and they both love to get excited about Santa coming at Christmas. It's part of the fun. At some deep level, they understand the truth. They can sense that fundamentally, Mommy feels very different about "helping Santa" by buying gifts, than she does about Jesus Christ.
This teacher was completely out of line, she stole something important from both the children and their parents.
btw, I love the keywords on this thread. Bah humbug, indeed.
Six year old kids don't believe in Santa? The ones who went home crying still believed.
The key error in the substitute teacher's analysis is that this is literature. It is NOT claimed to be true. To teach the story is not to claim that it is true, any more than to teach Tom Sawyer is to claim that IT is factually accurate. This teacher could easily have avoided the issue of whether Santa Claus is "real" by directing the students to their parents. This would have illustrated a sensitivity that is generally expected of teachers, especially teachers of very young students.
At four? You must've had a really sad life. I didn't know until I was 10 and that's when my little brother found out too. Don't assume that because you found out at an early age that every other child should too. It's up to the parents to decide when to tell their children and this teacher shouldn't ruin it for them.
My daughters are 9 and most of their classmates (including my daughters) still believe.
My seven year old still believes.
Knowing the likelihood that Christmas and Santa Claus will be part of lessons in elementary school in December, perhaps she ought to have taken the month off.
"Six year olds? How many six year olds do you suppose still believe that Santa Claus is a real figure?"
You'd be surprised my friend; you'd be surprised.
I was eight when a cruel older sibling, whom to this day delights in spoiling Santa for his young nieces and nephews, told me there was no such person as Santa Claus.
I was devastated, and it really destroyed Christmas happiness for me until I was old enough to appreciate the true meaning of Christmas: Christ.
ANYONE that takes it upon themselves to shatter the hopes and dreams of little children should be horsewhipped. Kids grow up quick enough.
The brother that spoiled childhood Christmas for me? He has been threatened with a beating within a 1/4 inch of his life if he opens his mouth to my kid(s) about Santa Claus. And I damned well mean it!