Is Concealing the Truth about Santa Too Much for Children?

Christmas is a widespread cultural holiday that most people celebrate during the winter season. Of course, with the celebration of Christmas follows the tale of Santa Claus, who flies around in a sleigh pulled by reindeer, sneakily giving gifts to people under their Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. He represents the kindness and joy of Christmas and embodies the spirit of Christmas as a whole. Not only that, Santa is widely recognized due to the significance of Christmas, but this brings up an issue. The issue being, that Santa as we have all learned throughout the years growing up, is not real, which is a problem since many kids look up to Santa as a magical figure of Christmas. So the question here lies, Santa is a myth, and therefore should we disregard the fantasy and tell the truth to our kids? My answer is absolutely not!

Firstly, the idea of Santa Claus is what gets kids interested in the ideas of Christmas and helps them get into the season-giving mood and holiday traditions. An important part of a kids life is imagination and Santa is just that being a mythical figure that kids are able to look up to and celebrate. Secondly, Santa teaches your kids how to be good. Since the whole idea of Santa is that kids are in belief that Santa will give them gifts if they are good, and will not give them gifts if they are naughty, can help kids be on their best behavior and always gives them something to work towards, which is the whole idea of a belief such as Santa. Third, Santa is a integral part of Christmas and by saying he is fake to children, you are taking   away an essential part of their childhood and being a child is being able to imagine and have these thoughts, which gives them hope and inspiration for the future, that’s why the activities such as leaving cookies and milk for him to be gone the next day and the presents put under the tree (probably what our parents have done) are all what make Christmas fun for the kids. He is a cultural icon at this point even if he is not real and being a realist ignores the essential need for imagination as humans.

Some might say that they will be heartbroken when they find out he is not real, and it is better to tell the truth to them. To this I say, we all experience these moments in our life, but the fun part was imagining about them and the experience it brought to our childhood. We all believe in things to a certain degree that could be fake, and you are ruining the experiences a childhood would have if you always tell the truth. Telling the truth is not always the best solution and it drifts away from the fact that a lot of things are fake, such as the tooth fairy for example, but it is how they have impacted and contributed to our development that is what counts. If kids find out on their own later Santa is not real, they will soon realize the impact Santa had on them in their childhood and the significance of him within their Christmas.

We all love Santa, and even though he is not real, he lives on within our hearts and is the embodiment of Christmas, but only through our imagination and the ability to believe, which is why Santa is here to stay within the minds of our children.