Negative Essay : Santa Claus, Joll Or Folly

The Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Boogeyman, and Santa Claus, what do all of these have in common? For me, it is the innocence of a child. Children seem to be more gullible and believe anything you tell them; they do not know the difference between a lie and the truth. During the Christmas of 2003, I was five years old and still believed in Santa Claus. The fact of believing in Santa Claus expresses the innocence of a child and brings the magic to Christmas.

Some of these may be very scary and some may only be mildly scary. It

However in the over-exaggerated movie it included the reason behind the Grinch's hatred of Christmas; saying it was because the kids used to tease him when he was little, until the day he

This leads into the most important difference between the book and the movie. In the movie it depicts that going to the North Pole to see Santa was all a dream, while in the book it made it all seem real. When children go see this movie, they might think that since the boy is having a dream that Santa must not be real. A lot of research has been done about kids believing in Santa. Gail Vines wrote about “the Santa delusion” from psychologist’s perspectives. According to Gail Vines (2007), children are able to

So you don’t believe in Santa Claus. It’s understandable. We find ourselves in an age of pure skepticism. We question everything. Science has taken hold of our lives, providing answers for all questions and dismissing anything that cannot be explained as either myth or fiction. So it’s quite understandable why you don’t believe, with no physical proof of his existence. It’s indeed understandable to lose sight of Father Christmas with the transformation of this holiday into one that, as of late, is used commercially as a lucrative crutch solely to make profit. It’s understandable to abandon Santa Claus after hearing countless people deny his very physical or even spiritual existence. After all, one tends to

Once the leaves begin to alter their color for the winter, most houses and businesses also change their appearance for the winter. Many families drag out their boxes of red and green to decorate their house for the holidays. Parents may brave a line stretching down the mall so their child can tell Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, what he or she wishes to unwrap on Christmas morning. Some parents question the effect of a child’s health or morals associated with the belief in Santa Claus, but, with research and psychologists weighing in on the subject, there is no tramatic evidence apparent in letting a child have faith in Santa Claus. Evidence gathered may suggest a benefit for children. Children should have the oportunity to believe in Santa Claus because it stems creativity and can improve mental health, shows youth an example of giving without expecting anything in return, and when the time comes, forces kids to distinguish between fantasy and reality.

For the last three years, I have helped organize and assist in coordinating my town’s Breakfast with Santa program. Each year the program is hosted at a local daycare. The program provides each child with a wrapped gift and a Christmas related book. They are also given the opportunity to take pictures with Santa and make crafts. For many of the children, the only gifts that they receive for Christmas are those donated by volunteers. As a

Also, adults threatening children throughout the year saying that, “Santa is always watching.” Is it just be an easy way for them to have children be on their best behavior at all times? Additionally, another theory that I have heard is that Santa Claus is a way for Satan to take Christ out of Christmas. People say that he tries to make giving and receiving gifts more important than the birth of Christ, but I don’t feed into this assumption. I feel as though parents and large corporations are the ones behind the

“Parents who can’t get their kids gifts want to do that, and some kids believe in Santa, which is awesome,” Manibusan explained. “So we took the gifts and put them where the kids couldn’t see them, and while they were having fun, the parents could take them to the car. That way they could give it to them on Christmas like any other family.”

No matter how old I get, I still can’t sleep on Christmas Eve. As a child, my brother and I would be ushered off to bed early, just to lie there with heavy eyes. We would try so hard to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus. Growing up we are all imprinted with the idea of a portly man in a red suit coming down our chimney to deposit gifts under our tree; that is, if you made the nice list. This ideology is a hundred and fifty year old tradition that encourages a child to believe in a fabricated being in exchange for a reward. As much as our parents try to shelter us from the truth, it is inevitable that we will discover that our beloved Santa is nothing more than a fable. As a child our naivety is attributed to our innocence, but as adults, there is a myriad of information out there for the taking.

Father Christmas, also known as Santa Clause, is there to help the children. He is aware of the battle that the children are going to encounter and wants them to be prepared. Instead of giving the children gifts, Father Christmas gives them tools for battle. This is very similar to the bible story of the Holy Spirit giving spiritual gifts to all believers, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed…” (1 Corinthians 12).

But I think that parents concerned with harming their relationship with their kid may discover the revelation of the ruse opens their children’s eyes and helps them see their parents in not a bad but different light. The discovery of the Santa Myth leads to important steps towards maturity like realizing your parents are people, just like you, and aren’t infallible. Having your parents share the truth about Santa and also share their personal discoveries of the myth can actually bring parents and children closer through the realization that they’ve both gone through the same experience. It also brings a new appreciation for parents’ efforts.

It is thought that in about 280 CE, the man now known as Santa Claus was born. This man’s full name was St. Nicholas of Myra. There is close to no information on this man, but there is legends. No one knows whether they are true or not. A famous legend tells of a story, where St. Nicholas helped a poor father and his three daughters. The father did not afford to pay his children’s dowries, and was consequently forced to sell them into slavery. But before the father could sell his children into servitude, St. Nicholas came in the night, and provided the unfortunate father with money for his daughters.

As aforementioned, the initial true meaning of Christmas is religion - one that has now been muchly downplayed. Of course at first glance religion is only an important element of Christmas for those who are actually religious, for which then religion plays the dominant role of what Christmas is to them. However, religion means to show obligation to something through faith, it could be argued that the majority of society is actually religious. We follow a society which has

A child learning about the myth of Santa Claus helps the process of development, and stimulates their cognitive development. Children will become interested in other ideas once they come to the realization of it being no Santa Claus. On the Today Show, Karri-Leigh Mastrangelo, a television producer and mother of two children, signified her belief that “there is a huge difference between telling your child a lie and allowing them to believe in the magic and mystery of the holidays.” It is One-Hundred Percent healthy for your child to believe in Santa Claus according to multiple psychologists and researchers. You cannot compare lying to your child about situations they could not understand versus allowing them to believe in Santa Claus. Dr. Janet Serwint a professor at the John Hopkins School of Medicine also stated, “Teaching your kids the myth of Santa Clause will not scar them for life.” While supporting my argument, this simple statement brings about questions amongst parents. If it does no psychological harm, then there should not be any concern of fraudulence towards the