SHOULD CHILDREN BE TOLD SANTA IS NOT REAL?
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. At what age should children be told that Santa Claus is not a real person?
a) Santa and when you should tell your child that he isn't real is one of the most common problems parents (especially those who are Christian) have to face. Questions such as who (the parents, the school, friends, etc.) should tell your child about Santa or at what age should they be told can come up. Deciding what to do can be tough, especially when adults are consistently pressured by the world to just "go along" and pretend that patented Xmas lies are actually true "for the sake of the children." Some have the additional problem of deciding how, when and where to convey to their kids that the family, out of conscience, doesn't participate in the Christmas holiday.
b) This modern world has at its disposal an impressive array of techniques and methods in which to promote how "real" Santa Claus is and the propaganda of how "good" it is to participate in the trappings of Christmas. The pressure to conform can come from the media (e.g. TV, radio, newspapers, books, magazines, the Internet, etc.), entertainment (movies, plays, games, etc.), family, friends, church, the workplace, stores and even schools to name a few.
c) If a child is about five years old or less (e.g. before they start school) they won't understand explanations for not keeping Christmas, such as its obvious non-Christian origins that pre-date the birth of Jesus. They will not be able to grasp why Santa does not exist no matter how it is explained to them. The advice for handling whether he is alive with someone so young is, for now, to avoid bringing up the subject. And, if you don't keep Christmas out of conscience toward God, you'd do well to keep up the practice.
f) Explain to your children that just like their favorite Disney character (Cinderella, Tinkerbell, etc.), or cartoon character, or the people in their favorite electronic game, Santa Claus can SEEM like he is real but is not. Tell them he is a make-believe individual created by some humans for the enjoyment of others like themselves. Also assure them that seeing someone dressed up like him in a store (which, if he was human, then how could he be in more than one place at a time?) doesn't mean he is literally alive, any more than shaking hands at Disneyland with someone dressed as Mickey Mouse means giant talking rodents with high-pitched voices roam the woods.
The End ...
1. At what age should children be told that Santa Claus is not a real person?a) Santa and when you should tell your child that he isn't real is one of the most common problems parents (especially those who are Christian) have to face. Questions such as who (the parents, the school, friends, etc.) should tell your child about Santa or at what age should they be told can come up. Deciding what to do can be tough, especially when adults are consistently pressured by the world to just "go along" and pretend that patented Xmas lies are actually true "for the sake of the children." Some have the additional problem of deciding how, when and where to convey to their kids that the family, out of conscience, doesn't participate in the Christmas holiday.
b) This modern world has at its disposal an impressive array of techniques and methods in which to promote how "real" Santa Claus is and the propaganda of how "good" it is to participate in the trappings of Christmas. The pressure to conform can come from the media (e.g. TV, radio, newspapers, books, magazines, the Internet, etc.), entertainment (movies, plays, games, etc.), family, friends, church, the workplace, stores and even schools to name a few.
c) If a child is about five years old or less (e.g. before they start school) they won't understand explanations for not keeping Christmas, such as its obvious non-Christian origins that pre-date the birth of Jesus. They will not be able to grasp why Santa does not exist no matter how it is explained to them. The advice for handling whether he is alive with someone so young is, for now, to avoid bringing up the subject. And, if you don't keep Christmas out of conscience toward God, you'd do well to keep up the practice.
d) For kids who are of school age, the problem of trying to explain why Santa does not exist is not as hard as it once was. Kids are growing up today in a world that is profoundly different than it was even in the late 20th century. Starting around 1995, public access to the has exploded. In 2012, out of a world population of roughly 7 Billion people, it is estimated more than one-third (2.4 Billion) are users of the Internet! Children as young as three are learning to use a computer mouse to take advantage of a computer's teaching ability. Schools have computers for their students to use not as a luxury, but as a necessity, in order to teach and introduce them to the technology-based world in which they exist.
e) What does all this mean in regard to telling your kids the TRUTH instead of lying to them (which you do not want them to do to YOU)? Children, even at an early age, are now exposed to a whole host of characters that look, speak and act just like humans but are nevertheless creations of someone's imagination. Whether in Internet games, educational software used in schools, cartoons, movies - even in story or coloring books - kids of school age are usually very familiar with interacting with countless fictional (pretend) people.
e) What does all this mean in regard to telling your kids the TRUTH instead of lying to them (which you do not want them to do to YOU)? Children, even at an early age, are now exposed to a whole host of characters that look, speak and act just like humans but are nevertheless creations of someone's imagination. Whether in Internet games, educational software used in schools, cartoons, movies - even in story or coloring books - kids of school age are usually very familiar with interacting with countless fictional (pretend) people.
f) Explain to your children that just like their favorite Disney character (Cinderella, Tinkerbell, etc.), or cartoon character, or the people in their favorite electronic game, Santa Claus can SEEM like he is real but is not. Tell them he is a make-believe individual created by some humans for the enjoyment of others like themselves. Also assure them that seeing someone dressed up like him in a store (which, if he was human, then how could he be in more than one place at a time?) doesn't mean he is literally alive, any more than shaking hands at Disneyland with someone dressed as Mickey Mouse means giant talking rodents with high-pitched voices roam the woods.
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