“What do you mean Santa isn’t real?”
Each holiday season, this very question is asked by thousands of innocent and disappointed young children who’ve had parts of their childhood yanked away from them upon learning the truth– their jolly, gift-giving Santa doesn’t exist.
These same children grow up and continue to tell the same lie to their own offspring, or may even receive compensation for acting as the local mall’s “Santa,” if they fit the description. Many adults do everything and more in their power to lie to the children in their lives about Santa’s existence.
No one needs a mysterious figure to help excite them for an upcoming holiday. Birthdays are fun, under the right circumstances. For some, Halloween is perpetually haunting, Valentine’s Day is always heartfelt and the patriotism displayed during Independence Day never atrophies. So, why do we feel the need to integrate a nonexistent figure into Christmas when it’s been established that it isn’t a requirement for holidays?
So, the question at hand is whether society should continue to allow a cultural tradition to be reserved for affluent children, or diminish Santa’s importance in children’s hearts as a whole by telling them the truth?
For many, the answer is simple: it’s a tradition. Just like it’s a tradition to dress up for Halloween, or light fireworks on July 4, it’s a tradition to lie to children about Santa. However, being one of the most anticipated holidays of the year, Christmas holds within itself a separate tradition: an annual visit from Santa.
To prepare for the big day, when “Santa” visits, children across the globe compile a list of gifts they hope to receive on Christmas and head to a mall to inform jolly old Saint Nick of this list. These kids can visit Santa almost every year with ease, and if they’re sick that isn’t an issue because he’ll visit them.
In households that aren’t as fortunate, the case is entirely different.
In a study published by the British Medical Journal, it was concluded that hospitalized children of lower socioeconomic status are less likely to get a visit from Santa. For a child that believes in the cultural figure, one they presume is magical and responsible for every child’s Christmas joy, the lack of Santa’s appearance can be disappointing. The list Santa checks discriminates between kids that are either naughty or nice, but “Santa” apparently also discriminates based on family income.
So, the question at hand is whether society should continue to allow a cultural tradition to be reserved for affluent children, or diminish Santa’s importance in children’s hearts as a whole by telling them the truth?
In order to truly sustain a holiday spirit, the lie of Santa needs to be abolished. Children should know the truth.
According to another study published in PubMed Central, children tend to believe that adults only talk about things that are real. And apparently, when children somehow learn for themselves the truth about Santa, they’re gravely disappointed to the point that it creates a JFK effect– they remember the exact time and place they learned it.
Lying to kids about Santa isn’t worth the trouble in the end. It creates a sense of distrust, it teaches children that lying is okay if you have justifiable reasoning behind it and, even though it isn’t intentional, children of lower economic status don’t get to entertain their belief in Santa.
Christmas joy transforms into Christmas blues for many kids, and that’s the opposite of the effect it was intended to have. In order to truly sustain a holiday spirit, the lie of Santa needs to be abolished. Children should know the truth.
Photo courtesy of How Stuff Works
