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.

There are various arguments that attempt to justify the Santa Claus lie, but all of them fail. One argument is that lying about Santa Claus adds a magical element to Christmas. If parents did not lie about Santa Claus, Christmas would fail to be a magical time for children. I do not see why this last claim is true. Children seem to enjoy their birthday parties, and look forward to them, and look forward to getting birthday presents, without the need for a lie about a man who brings them their birthday presents. Most of the things that we look forward to over Christmas ­– the holiday from school or work, meeting up with family and friends, eating and drinking together, the exchange of gifts (other than Santa Claus presents) – do not involve telling lies. Indeed, if children were not lied to about Santa Claus, it might be that these other aspects of Christmas would become more central to the holiday.

Do children need to believe that they must leave out carrots for the reindeer, or Christmas cake for Santa, in order for Christmas to be a special occasion? Do children need to send a letter with their wish list in the mail in order to get excited about Christmas morning? I honestly do not believe that any of this is necessary for Christmas to be special. If children are moved at the thought of feeding animals, then over Christmas they can bring blankets, toys, treats, and food to animal shelters in their towns that contain very real animals. If they want to give Christmas cake to someone special, then there are plenty of charities and church organizations who will be more than happy to distribute Christmas cake, and any other food that they have, to the hungry over the holidays. As much as mailing letters with wish lists may be exciting, I suspect that children would be equally excited, if not more excited, to choose presents for other children, as part of, say, the Toys for Tots program, or the Make a Wish Foundation, and to write letters to accompany them. Christmas could be a time for children to do many things for others in need that they do not currently do, things that would make Christmas actually magical for those other people in need. As we get older, most of us find that when it comes to giving presents at Christmas, it is more fun to give presents than to receive them – and especially, to give presents to children. Allowing children to play the role of real Santas to other children and adults is a way to make Christmas magical for them, as well as for those whom they help.

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"Because the Santa Clause lie might lead to justified resentment, and warranted skepticism about parents being liars about other things, it should not be told."

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