Parents should stop lying to children about Santa Claus. There is no justification for lying to children about a man who lives in the North Pole and who will bring them presents on Christmas Day – presents made by elves and delivered with the help of a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer, if you go with the full lie. The time, energy, and creativity that goes into supporting the Santa Clause lie should be redirected to helping very real, but less fortunate, children, adults, and animals over the Christmas holidays.
The Santa Claus Lie
On the morally suspect task of lying about Santa.
18th December 2018
Continue reading
Enjoy unlimited access to the world's leading thinkers.
Start by exploring our subscription options or joining our mailing list today.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Latest Releases
Nicole Braden-Johnson 21 December 2018
1) One can do charitable things around Christmas and still do the Santa thing.
2) Most parents do the Santa thing because they themselves have fun memories about it, and want to share that with their kids.
3) "Lying" is one way of interpreting it. The other is that kids will understand that Santa is a game of pretend that simply went on longer than most games. Kids play pretend all the time. They know it's not mean or a reason never to believe the "pretender" again.
By your logic I shouldn't pretend to be a dinosaur and chase my child (squealing in delight) around the house, even if that's his current most favorite thing to do.
Join the conversation