Random thought: Santa Claus, innocence, and child development

[alp227]

Wikipedia's section on "scientific opposition" on its Santa Claus article references a recent Daily Telegraph article "Father Christmas's Christmas Eve in figures" theorizing how overwhelming the job of a real Santa Claus would be.

As I read that Telegraph article, I began thinking about how parents make up all sorts of myths to explain how the world works when we are young. That myth-making combined with instilling submission to authority (no matter how dumb) keeps children innocent for a few years until their brains start to question things. (Pardon me, but do children's minds have a stage when they begin to have "a mind of their own"? I guess that's when they begin saying "no!" to everything their parents tell them to do that doesn't feel comfortable!) I could go on with other "child myths" like the stork that delivers babies, the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, etc.

Does innocence help or hinder child development? Does "telling it as it is" about the birds and the bees enhance a child's intellect later in life? I mean, think about why Americans are often so hostile to sex education. Because they don't want to expose their kids to that "sinful behavior" that humans have been practicing for billions of years! Debate on. And happy holidays everyone!

[Oregone]

1. I dont think the stork is anywhere comparable to Santa Claus

Or even the Easter Bunny. Some legends and traditions introduce childhood magic into a young life. Others hinder sex education quite a bit.

I don't know. My kid is anticipating opening gifts from that man in a red suit that loves all children. She will also tell you where babies grow and come from, as well as get food.

I don't think people tell kids about Santa to suppress knowledge and maintain innocence. Its about introducing fun and magic into their lives, and to inspire creativity. I'm not sure it should be lump in with other things that might interfere with sex education

[alp227]

2. If you think I was misguided, I apologize

So you're saying that Santa Claus is an emotional thing, "introducing fun and magic into their lives". But then I hear debates like "when should I tell my kid that Santa's not real"? Although I am mentally sane and stable right now, I hardly recall how I came to know how Santa was not real! How would our lives be different without knowing about the legend of Santa?

[Oregone]

3. How would our lives be different without any or all childhood legends & stories?

I would think they would be dull and boring.

As for when to tell a kid...who knows. I haven't got there yet. Im finally just teaching about Santa Claus, and my kid loves the idea as much as I remember it.

Im not sure what right or wrong regarding any of its. Im not a huge fan at all of legends that hinder knowledge & thought (like religion) but Im a fan of those magical moments that only children get to experience.

[alp227]

4. "Dull and boring"...hmm you may have a point right there.

I suppose a healthy happy childhood = much better life!

[Hekate]

5. I refer you to Terry Pratchett's book"The Hogfather" which is sort of about Santa Claus...

... and is probably my favorite statement on the subject you have raised.

The anthropomorphic personage Death has taken on the job of delivering presents on Hogswatchnight when the Hogfather inexplicably disappears, and has a job of it figuring out human motivations but does pretty well. Among other things, he says that in his usual line of work he is not called upon to ask if people have been naughty or nice, but he'll do his best.

In the course of the book it turns out that the Hogfather has been targeted for assassination by a group of creatures who believe the Universe will run a whole lot more smoothly without imaginary nonsense like the Tooth Fairy. Death sends his granddaughter Susan to sort this out, which ultimately she does.

In the final part of the book he talks it over with the ever-skeptical Susan:

"Death: Humans need fantasy to *be* human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape.
Susan: With tooth fairies? Hogfathers?
Death: Yes. As practice, you have to start out learning to believe the little lies.
Susan: So we can believe the big ones?
Death: Yes. Justice, mercy, duty. That sort of thing.
Susan: They're not the same at all.
Death: You think so? Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder, and sieve it through the finest sieve, and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy. And yet, you try to act as if there is some ideal order in the world. As if there is some, some rightness in the universe, by which it may be judged.
Susan: But people have got to believe that, or what's the point?
Death: You need to believe in things that aren't true. How else can they become?"

It's not about the presumed innocence of children, though I do believe in letting them approach knowledge of all things adult at a slower pace than we currently do. (Violence in tv and movies, and the sexualization of pre-teen girls comes to mind, but there are other examples.)

No, kids long ago were brought up on stories such as those collected by the Brothers Grimm, and those contain some pretty rough stuff about the world. Hansel and Gretel are left to starve to death in the woods by their father when he and his new wife fall on hard times and run out of food. There they find an edible house inhabited by a wicked old woman who uses it as a trap to catch children which she then fattens up to eat. It is only by the cleverness of Gretel that the children escape, and they shove the old woman into her hot oven and let her burn to death.

The stories we tell them today are pretty benign by comparison, but they have lessons if we choose to teach them....

There's more to be said from a psychological/mythological perspective, but that's all for now.

The Pratchett quote may be found here:
http://sharetv.org/shows/terry_pratchetts_hogfather_uk/quotes

Hekate

[Meldread]

6. I don't think so.

When children are told "childhood myths" it's for one of two reasons:

1. They're too young to really understand.
2. It's to introduce some magic and wonder in their lives.

To give two examples.

My nephew is around the age when kids start losing their baby teeth and they learn about the tooth fairy. Other kids in his class had already started to lose their teeth, and he was upset because he wasn't losing any of his... and he wanted desperately to be visited by the tooth fairy. He had heard about it from the other kids at school... and so when he lost his first tooth he was completely ecstatic.

Another example involves my mother when she was younger. Her family was very, VERY poor. She was raised by a single mother, as her father had died when she was a child. She never got much for Christmas, Birthdays, or Easter, but when they came around she was always excited. When her mother and sisters tried to tell her that was it no such thing as Santa (my mother was the youngest), she refused to believe them... she was like ten years old. We were actually talking about this a couple of weeks ago. Basically, despite all the evidence she saw to the contrary, she desperately wanted to believe in Santa... because her family didn't have much, and believing in some magical man who brought presents in her mind kind of made the world seem better. It was better to believe in Santa than face the reality in which she lived. When she finally accepted the truth she cried for hours like a baby - she was heartbroken.

I guess the second heartbreak for my mother was when we took her up to Walton's Mountain. You guys remember that old TV show the Walton's? Well growing up my mother loved that show. She loved it because she could identify with the Walton Family. When we took her up to Walton's Mountain (as an adult!) she was heartbroken because in her mind she actually still believed in some aspects of the TV show... for example, a long, loooooooooong walk to the nearest store. It was like literally a five minute walk down the road and around the corner. :P In effect, it killed the magic of the Walton's for her, and even to this day she refuses to watch the program because quote, "they lie." :P

These stories illustrate, at least for me, the importance of magic for children.