New York Teacher Tells Kids There Is No Santa Claus
- Thread starter ike42
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Wait a second..SANTA DOESN'T EXIST?!?! How could you make this thread? I don't know what to believe anymore
I really can't believe all the responses here saying that the teacher was right. Believing in Santa is a part of every kid's life. Its what made the holidays extra special as a kid, knowing that when you'd wake up there'd be presents for you from Santa. I grew up with a lot of younger cousins, and whenever my uncle came in dressed as Santa (very convincing, I must say, and a good quality costume), seeing their faces light up was a joy to behold, even though I'm only their cousin. I'm sure many kids at 8 already don't believe in him anymore, but if they still do why force them to stop believing? It causes no harm to anyone to have a silly belief like that, but it makes Christmas so much more magical for them. They'll all eventually grow up anyway, so its pointless to tell them a few years sooner. I ended up figuring it out on my own just because I knew that magic doesnt exist like that, and that a fat man with a limitless bag of toys squeezing down my chimney just wasn't very convincing when I started really thinking about it.
In short, let kids believe what they want. Its not a damn crime to keep believing in Santa until you're 10 or so, and its better to figure it out on your own than to have someone crush your dreams.
In short, let kids believe what they want. Its not a damn crime to keep believing in Santa until you're 10 or so, and its better to figure it out on your own than to have someone crush your dreams.
... But imagine how much more you would have loved it if you believed in the fat flying man?Zing said:
I don't think the teacher will get in trouble but come on. As a kid, I loved having an imagination and when I found out that Santa wasn't real I was really upset. Where as the teacher will most likely go off with out any issues it was still really mean to the kids that believed.
There seems to be a kind of logic tree here.
Did your parents tell you about santa?
If no - "Lol parents be lying to their children, mine were clearly superior for not doing that"
If yes -Was the experience of finding out he wasn't real unpleasant or otherwise damaging?
If no to the above - "Santa is great, he made christmas fun!"
If yes to the above - "Santa is horrible and telling your children about him is horrible"
Can't we all agree that everyone experiences santa differently, and not spoil other people's fun because other people's fun makes you break out in hives or something?
IMO the teacher was kind of a douche. Yeah at that age they probably already knew better, but the issue could probably simply have been tastefully avoided and no angry parents would be had. I mean, how do you /not/ know that saying something like that to young children will make their parents want to rape you with pitchforks? It seems like common sense to me, are you sure this person is qualified to be teaching when they can't seem to work out basic logic processes like that one?
Did your parents tell you about santa?
If no - "Lol parents be lying to their children, mine were clearly superior for not doing that"
If yes -Was the experience of finding out he wasn't real unpleasant or otherwise damaging?
If no to the above - "Santa is great, he made christmas fun!"
If yes to the above - "Santa is horrible and telling your children about him is horrible"
Can't we all agree that everyone experiences santa differently, and not spoil other people's fun because other people's fun makes you break out in hives or something?
IMO the teacher was kind of a douche. Yeah at that age they probably already knew better, but the issue could probably simply have been tastefully avoided and no angry parents would be had. I mean, how do you /not/ know that saying something like that to young children will make their parents want to rape you with pitchforks? It seems like common sense to me, are you sure this person is qualified to be teaching when they can't seem to work out basic logic processes like that one?
Seems like a kind of non-newsworthy story to me. "News at 9, teacher tells truth to children"?
The linked story kind of skimps on the details of the context - did the teacher just blurt out "Santa is fake, wahahaha", or were they answering a child's question?
The teacher probably should have avoided the subject, especially this close to Christmas, and especially with children this young.
But on the other hand - jeeze, a little perspective please? People calling for the teacher to be fired need to spend 5 minutes googling "starving kids in Africa" and then reflect on whether a handful of spoiled first-world kids becoming incrementally less naieve is such a crime.
The linked story kind of skimps on the details of the context - did the teacher just blurt out "Santa is fake, wahahaha", or were they answering a child's question?
The teacher probably should have avoided the subject, especially this close to Christmas, and especially with children this young.
But on the other hand - jeeze, a little perspective please? People calling for the teacher to be fired need to spend 5 minutes googling "starving kids in Africa" and then reflect on whether a handful of spoiled first-world kids becoming incrementally less naieve is such a crime.
Actually no. My two oldest attend the only Performing Arts K-12 school in the US. One for acting the other for visual arts, specifically drawing. I don't understand the idea that if they don't believe in Santa that kids will become documentary watching, Weather Channel watching losers?ike42 said:
"I wouldn't know about that."Zing said:
Let's see.
1) Lesson content = North pole. Not Christmas, not Atheism, not macrobiotic vegan food, not Santa Marx, not Santa Muhammad.
2) he, the teacher, is a she. It may not matter much, but we try to do our best to stick to facts and truth here, don't we.
3) The teacher did not go forth to plain destroy the kids dreams - what she reportedly did was respond to the questions in a rather poor manner. I've been teaching lovely and annoying and inquisitive humans from age 5 to age 50, and whenever I felt I was being nudged out of bounds, or too far off topic, I would go for "I wouldn't know about that."
If people in Australia decide to believe in lizard people that somehow help making life a little bit sweeter for children, and help convey meaning and culture, so be it. However, I haven't heard about any significant culture, world religion or large groups of human beings assembling to praise the lizard god outside of, say, Conan movies. So, I believe I have to live with us having quite different opinions on the subject.
I'd fire her, and I'd love to use a human catapult to do the job. I would want to make sure she's not allowed anywhere near children anytime soon - or ever again, really. If she lacks the skill or is otherwise not fit to do the job, may she go and mess with grownups. Good riddance.
Good for the teacher. It's becoming a harsh world for younger and younger generations every year. All we can do is tell them the truth and prepare them the best we can for the storm
You're ridiculous. You're acting like she raped or murdered a child. And your punishments do not fit the crime, sorry. In fact, I'd be surprised if she even got a slap on the wrist. Or anything more than a "don't do that again".Headdrivehardscrew said:
Sorry to disappoint.
You might think that she answered the question poorly, but she just didn't. In fact she answered it with complete truth. There is no grounds for any sort of punishment here. Move on.
Ha. Of course this would come from Fox News. I loved the line about "this stunning behavior."ike42 said:
This is just a case of a misguided teacher trying to do right in the wrong way. My parents very wisely decided to tell all 3 of us that there was no Santa and then to make it a joke (to this day, Santa = Mom and Dad, hur hur). The idea was that if they lied to us about Santa, we wouldn't believe in Jesus either (although this failed them in 66% of their offspring). They, equally wisely, informed us that we were under no circumstances allowed to inform our friends of this revelation, as their parents had the right to raise them as they saw fit and we had no right to bring about such disillusionment.
I don't think your parents were big hypocrites. I think they were just making a mistake very similar to that of the teacher. Raising kids on fantasy is grooming them for a life devoid of pragmatism and thus, happiness. It is indeed wrong to teach kids that if they're good, an obese senior will reward them at the end of the year, at least in my opinion.
We live in an atheist home. Here, our daughter gets our take on religion and the related holidays. No Santa, no God, Christ as a revolutionary guy that most likely existed but got killed and became a martyr.
That's it. Ah, no Santa, no Easter Bunny, et al.
And, you know what? She's perfectly healthy, creative, inventive, curious and happy little girl.
So, please, do not condition a happy childhood to Santa Claus simply because your childhood was like that. There are many ways to raise healthy, bubbly kids without shoving religion, Christmas or consumerism down their little throats.
That's it. Ah, no Santa, no Easter Bunny, et al.
And, you know what? She's perfectly healthy, creative, inventive, curious and happy little girl.
So, please, do not condition a happy childhood to Santa Claus simply because your childhood was like that. There are many ways to raise healthy, bubbly kids without shoving religion, Christmas or consumerism down their little throats.
Since I'm confident the teacher would have been immediately fired for telling the children that there's no such person as Jesus, I would expect nothing less for this wholly analogous statement.
Santa is a figure of questionable reality in whom some people believe.
Jesus is a figure of questionable reality in whom some people believe.
If a teacher is allowed to flagrantly disabuse children of their notions with regard to one, there that teacher must also be allowed to disabuse children of their notions regarding the other. Treating the two differently would necessarily be arbitrary.
Santa is a figure of questionable reality in whom some people believe.
Jesus is a figure of questionable reality in whom some people believe.
If a teacher is allowed to flagrantly disabuse children of their notions with regard to one, there that teacher must also be allowed to disabuse children of their notions regarding the other. Treating the two differently would necessarily be arbitrary.
I think I figured it out when I was old enough to realize that most homes in Texas don't have chimneys.
This from first pager!Matthew94 said:
As much as a disappointment it would be for the children, the reaction from the parents is a bit over the top.
Most people I know with children, tell them, or the children realises, that Santa isn't real from about 7/8; the teacher just did the job for the parents, I honestly think it was about time they stopped believing.
My 2.5 year old keeps asking for her MLP presents, my instant reaction is, "We'll have to see what Santa brings you" even though I never believed in him. It's something, as a parent, you walk into and it's hard to get out of xD
The education system is weird at that age. Like, really weird. They spend half their time lying to you, only to teach you better later. Let me give a couple examples;ike42 said:
Firstly, if you're going to school in America, your teacher happily tells you that you live in a democracy. Only... you don't. You live in a democratic republic, which means that instead of voting for everything, you vote for the people who then decide things. At that point, it's just words, so why waste our time teaching us something that we have to unlearn later?
In much the same way, the teacher tells us that we can't begin a sentence with the word "because." Years later, they correct themselves and tell us, "Actually, you can start a sentence with 'because,' you just have to be sure to finish the thought. Just end the sentence with the outcome so that it's not a sentence fragment." Again... why lie? Why simplify these things to the point where they are just wrong, so that you have to teach us that you were deceiving us later?
Similarly... I guess I don't see much point in Santa. I was raised with him, and I don't think I felt as betrayed when I found out he wasn't real as I did when I found that those other things I'd been taught were wrong, but you should be showing your children that love and 'magic' exist yourself, in the way you love and care for them. Tell them about the dangers, too... don't tell them every detail of the sick stuff that's out there, obviously, but when they ask a question you should give them a true, if not complete, answer.
Incidentally, the answer, "When a Mommy and a Daddy love each other very much..." etc, seems true enough. Again, not complete, because you sure don't want them trying to mimic you while playing house or whatever... but yeah, hardly a lie.
That said, if parents are lying to their kids, then the teacher's role as the restorer of truth gets a bit shaky... they're gonna learn sooner or later, though. I hardly think we need to fetch the tar and feathers.
