The Ash Twins Blog

The following WebMD article gives an interesting discussion of the phenomenon of Santa Claus mythology. It serves to begin with parental platitudes. Those in favor:

Any thought of hooking Santa Claus away from the holiday stage is enough to make some parents roll their eyes or throw up their hands in outrage.

“Why on earth are we in such a hurry to take away the innocence and magic that exists in childhood?” says one parent in an online message board.

“Let children be children for as long as possible!” says another parent.

And against:

A brief review of comments from some online message boards, however, reveals that the Santa notion also elicits its share of cringes:

“I will never teach my children about the myth of Santa, because he is not the reason we celebrate Christmas.”

“You teach your kids not to lie and yet we lie to them right away about Santa and the Easter Bunny.”

“The truth is some kids get nothing for Christmas, because there really is no Santa and some parents cannot scrape up the extra dough. The child that gets told Santa loves and gives to everybody will wonder what is wrong with them.”

“Why would anyone want to make the nice gesture of buying and wrapping the perfect gift, only to give the credit to a fictional character?”

The article then offers some relevant facts:

Small studies from the United States and Canada suggest that virtually all children know about Santa Claus, even if they do not view him as a real person. A significant percentage of believers discovered the truth behind the tale around age 7. Only half of kids aged 8 to 11 reported believing in Santa.

When they did find out the truth, most of them reacted in a positive manner. Two out of three kids said they felt a sense of pride in figuring out the truth about Santa Claus. Half of them said that although the jolly guy was not real, they liked the idea of him.

And some relevant knowledge from child psychologists:

Very young children live in an imaginary world, and that world is reality for them. “Little kids think there actually might be a monster in their closet or a dragon under their bed,” says Douglas Kramer, MD, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin Medical School. “It seems real to them, so it’s got to be real.”

At ages 1 through 4, children can comprehend tangible things such as sleigh, reindeer, and Santa Claus as a real person, Kramer explains. These kids cannot yet grasp abstract concepts.

At 4 to 6 years old, Kramer says children may begin questioning whether Santa Claus is a real person. It is not until kids are about 6 to 8 that they may be ready to understand that Santa Claus is real, but not in a concrete sense. Their ability to think abstractly begins developing at this time and continues on until they are about 14 years old.

And some professional advice:

Parents who strongly believe that they are betraying their children’s trust by sharing the Santa Claus tale probably do not need to tell them the story, says Robert Feldman, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, who has conducted extensive research on lying and deception.

Keep in mind, though, that in the overall scale of deception, propagating the Santa myth is no worse than saying things like “You look terrific,” or “You haven’t gained weight,” or “What a great dress,” says Feldman, noting that people generally use lies as a social crutch.

“We actually teach our kids that deception is acceptable,” says Feldman. For example, he says parents often ask their children to pretend they like gifts from relatives to spare the feelings of family members. . .

Tasha Howe, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif., says parents can use fantasy to encourage children’s critical and independent thinking. When children ask questions related to Santa Claus, such as “Is there really a Santa Claus?” or “How do reindeer fly?” she suggests encouraging little ones to come up with their own explanations.

The article ends by deflating the intense disagreements among parental philosophers:

There is no scientific research indicating the Santa tale can be helpful or harmful to kids, says Howe. So when her students who are parents ask her whether or not they should promote the Santa tale, she simply responds, “It’s a personal choice. Whatever choice you make, I don’t think it’s going to harm your child.”

Another article, published in Yahoo News, discusses the phenomenon of letters written to Santa. According to a spokeswoman, the U.S. postal services receives hundreds of thousands of letters a year. Scranton psychology professor Carole Slotterback wrote a book after reading hundreds of these letters:

One kid asked to be an elf. Another made a list that included Pokemon cards, a camera and a microscope. But about every third item, the child wrote: “NO clothes.”

And then there was the one written in careful cursive on bright pink paper, in which Santa was asked for perhaps the greatest gift of all: a mom.

“Not just for me but my daddy, brother and granny … my daddy works so hard and then he comes home to cook and clean and it should be easier,” the letter read. . .

Some are funny — one asked Santa to check the appropriate box: Real or not real? — but many more are not, she said.

“I’ve never gone 5 or 10 minutes without getting teary,” said Brennan. “It’s very emotional.”

Children who sent letters instead of lists were generally more polite and chatty, for instance asking about Mrs. Claus, Slotterback said.

Except for the death threat. One child wrote: “Dear Santa, I am going to kill you and steal the toys from your workshop.”

One odd comment made by Slotterback is about the psychological reaction of children to growing up in a society saturated by fearmongering about terrorists:

And there was no indication that children feared the terrorists would get Santa, she said.

“Terrorists can do all kinds of things to our world, and they can hurt us in many ways, but one thing they can’t do is touch Santa,” said Slotterback. “And that was nice to see.”

That comment suggests, perhaps thankfully, that it is only the old woman Slotterback, rather than the actual children, that is fooled by societal fearmongering.

One more excerpt about children’s use of politeness:

But she noted a surprising lack of social niceties in the correspondence, unless the child was asking for a pet. A boy who asked for a golden retriever used “please” 16 times, she said. The next-highest use came from a girl who wanted a horse.

Slotterback cited other research that found people who expect their requests to be fulfilled — like a boss asking an employee to do something — are less likely to say please. Perhaps likewise, she said, kids expect Santa to come through.