Santa Claus brings
hope to many children, but this hope can be in the form of material objects.
There are advantages which can be exploited by kids believing in Santa and
there can also be many long lasting negative effects. Kids are often loyal to
Santa and expect a lot from him, so are we doing the right thing by teaching
children to honor false legends?
There can be
benefits for kids to believe in Santa. It brings joy and excitement to
families: making cookies, putting out a glass of warm milk, and the number one
thing -presents. Parenting is a tough job; therefore it can be beneficial for kids
to believe in Santa so parents can manipulate them to behave all year. Then the
parents who have money can perpetuate the lie by pretending to be Santa and
easily buy their child whatever they desire for Christmas. When kids see the
presents they asked Santa to get them, they believe that Santa knows they have
been good. But sometimes it’s not easy to maintain that Santa illusion.
There can be
negative outcomes for kids to believe in Santa. American families spend about
$500 per child and 465 billion combined on Christmas gifts. Some families can’t
afford the presents that their kids want. Kids want cell phones, tablets, video
games or game stations - which causes a lot of stress when trying to afford
those expensive gifts. A kid, whose parents can’t afford the present they want,
will assume that Santa thinks they have been bad that year; even if they tried
really hard to be good. This could destroy their self-esteem. Thus, parents are
forced to be the Santa that every kid believes in.
But it can be really hard to attain that responsibility if they are in debt. Even
if these struggling parents can buy these gifts, it will be Santa who will get
the credit. Kids should know it is their parents buying these expensive gifts,
bought by working hard. Instead they
think a stranger makes gifts appear magically out of his bag. So, is it good parenting
to tell their kids a lie that may eventually turn against them in the future?
It’s nice to have
kids believe in Santa Claus because it brings them joy on Christmas. But
sometimes it’s not appropriate to believe because of family struggles and the dishonesty.
Unfortunately, the only hope that some kids have on Christmas is a present from
Santa. Instead of supporting materialism, they should understand the true
meaning of Christmas - peace on earth. So, is Santa Claus a good influence?
Should we continue the indoctrination of this imaginative creature?
I love the different approach you take on Christmas. it is interesting and really got me thinking. well done. However, i for one do not believe that the image of santa is all that harmful. most kids usually don't lose sense of their moral values just because they believed in santa, at least i didn't. Santa Clause is one of the biggest parts of a kid's childhood. rather than teaching children materialism, santa could teach children not to take what they have for granted because in reality, they could receive nothing for christmas at all. overall Taylor, this is an interesting, well written post, but i do believe that santa is a good, innocent influence that brings joy to people's christmas.
ReplyDeleteTaylor, as I told you in class, I really liked this article in "The Elephant." I thought you took a provocative stance on the Santa Claus "legend." The one thing that this post is missing is evidence to support to potentially detrimental effects of the Santa myth. You offer evidence about American consumerism, but no evidence about how the Santa myth affects children psychologically. Everything you write is mere conjecture. If you are going to really convince your reader, you need something more empirical. Otherwise, you will get responses like the one that Kendall offered, which is probably what most people would respond.
ReplyDeleteThis is well written, thanks.