It isn't really about responsibility. If parents choose to lie to their children, I am not going to interfere. And if I found myself in a temporary custodial position as a teacher (or daycare worker, or camp counselor), I would choose not to say anything about it. If the curriculum called for it, I would discuss it with whatever entity is in charge.
I am talking about inconsistency right here on Free Republic, not the actions of the teacher.
I have seen people on this thread (I am pinging them) refer to Santa Claus as:
a fairy tale (yet children are not taught that fairy tales are real, they are clearly stories)
a miracle (but miracles are real, Santa Claus is not)
Santa Claus and Jesus are friends (this could obviously lead one to question the existence of Jesus)
Santa Claus is just a story, like Tom Sawyer is a story (children are NOT taught that Tom Sawyer is a real person, and any child who were to believe such would be corrected by his parents and certainly by his teachers)
The story is just a fantasy story (But children are not taught that Lord of the Rings is real, and no one is expected to pretend that Frodo is a real person)
Do your children really believe that fairy tales are real?
I'm curious, because when I was a child, I loved fantasy stories and fairy tales, but I never, EVER actually thought they were real.
You said, in part: Do your children really believe that fairy tales are real?
I'm curious, because when I was a child, I loved fantasy stories and fairy tales, but I never, EVER actually thought they were real.
***
No, my children don't (didn't, they are now almost 14) believe fairy tales are true, but neither did any teacher I know of go out of his or her way to tell them that. Our kids were believers in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny when they were younger. We didn't emphasize the truth/falsity issue of them, we just enjoyed the fantasy with them. They were young children. Santa was not God, and he was not part of any religious teaching. It was FUN. Kids should have a little fun. Our kids now believe in the "spirit of Santa Claus" which IS indirectly related to our Christian values of giving and thinking of others first. We have always thought of Santa as a harmless, fun diversion. Others may disagree. We only ask that others not interfere with how we raise our children. Anyone with a modicum of sense knows that Santa is dealt with differently in different households, and should be discreet enough not to get involved in what we see from this thread is a touchy subject.
I consider the Santa "issue" not too different from sex education in that regard. Parents make decisions on how to deal with the "where to babies come from" question based upon their religious and moral beliefs and their determination of the maturity of their children. Some parents lay it all out very early on. Some stick with the "stork brings them" story (or something similar) for a while. I would have been outraged if a teacher of one of my children decided to tell the "truth" about sex to my child before I thought he or she were ready. This truth can be expressed many ways however, ranging from: Babies come from the love of a mother and father to you take this part here and put it in here until...
The point for me is the teacher's inappropriate decision to usurp the position of the parent, not to argue that Santa Claus is or is not real.
Yes! My children believe in fairy tales!
My daughter wants to be a princess when she grows up. My son wants to be a knight. But you have made me rethink how unhappy they will be to think I have lied to them by omission.
So I shall go now and tell my daughter she will never be a princess. That princesses are really mainly rich neurotic women born into lives of philanthropic tokenism which occupies certain families of known geneaology, who are funded by the generosity of more progressive forms of government, as living cultural history icons.
I shall tell my son that knights no longer exist and thank God not, because they were merely defenders of the prerogatives of feudal despots.
I shall throw away my own well-worn copy of "Pretty Woman" because we must all recognize that most hookers don't marry Richard Gere, they die toothless and HIV positive with a needle stuck in a bulging vein. I shall tell this to my 7 yr old daughter so she can enjoy the movie without indulging in damaging fantasies..
Next Christmas we shall spend the day watching "Schindler's List" so the kids can be exposed to reality, not fantasy.
I shall tell them that I lied about Santa because I am a liar. I was misguidedly trying to make Christmas fun for them like my parents made it for me and their parents made it for them. But a lie is a lie. Times are different now and we can all take instruction in our erroneous parenting techniques by astute internet commentators.
Oh, and since we are being honest from now on...No...they aren't the smartest, cutest, or best behaved kids in the world, either.
I shall tell them there are no miracles. If you are injured or sick someday and a doctor gives you a 5% chance of surviving, you'll most likely die. No use being unrealistic, is there?
Thanks so much for showing me the error of my ways. I'm sure our kids will be much healthier and trusting now, in their outlook on life.
Now, you did promise to butt out. Right?
Semper Disgusted
I know most kids when they are little and go to Disneyland believe that they are actually seeing the real Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Cinderella, etc. Do you actually tell little kids that those characters are not real?
No one asked this teacher to tell the kids whether Santa was real or not.
Can we not let little kids be kids? Sorry, I just don't get the vitriol being shown on this thread. As was said in the movie Stripes.... lighten up, Francis.