No santa? Would you be mad?

[Mattemma]

We celebrate *holidays* not a specifc one,and Santa never came up.We enjoy the movies,but my kids know all there is *now* are stories and some like to pretend he is alive.

Anyway my kids know. I had a parent call and leave messages demanding I talk to my son(8yo at the time) for not going along with the Santa is Alive fantasy. Was frantic telling me my child was going to ruin her son's Christmas(and holidays FOREVER). Turns out all the kids were asking each other," Do you believe in Santa?" Well my son was asked,and he was one of a few who were in the non-believers camp. Well instead of leaving it at that the believer kids got very upset and told the others ," If you don't believe in Santa he won't bring you any presents!" My son knows who really buys and brings the present, and said " Sorry I don't believe that. I know I will get presents."

It went on for a bit till a teacher finally redirected the kids to other activities. Lol, the principal had to send out a reminder to parents to be tolerant of all beliefs,and encourage that behavior in their children. I am glad my son is no longer with younger ones who still believe,and at the same time can not accept that there are others who do not believe as they do....and that it is OK. It is OK and those people aren't any better or worse for believing something else.

 

[annie3001]

Who is Santa?

Nah.... Just kidding. I dont think it was the teachers place to explain santa and all. She was out of line. Should she really loose or job, No imo. But I am sure the teacher knows better now...


Looks like she will be getting some coal under the tree.

 

[Stacykins]

Quote:
Sorry, but half the anticipation is waiting, while pretending to be asleep, for the fat, sneaky, mysterious gift bringer to deliver his load of gifts....What do you tell the child about who brought the gifts, and why are they gifts, in the first place? Why bother with the wrapping and the wasted paper? Why bother with a tree and decorations? Why not just throw the packages on the floor on Christmas morning, and say, Here's your Christmas present, from Visa?

Not for justification at all. For knowledge. Heck, people are so disconnected already from the Christian reason for Christmas, that the true origin of the winter solstice celebrations it was stolen from are even more disconnected. It is a bit of history that few choose to acknowledge (well, like most religious plagiarism, actually. Oh boy, the book of Genesis is a real doozy!).

 

[TinyChickenLady]

I have my views and ideas on how the Santa issue should be handled. But it all comes down to family. They should be the ones telling their children if there is a Santa or not. Plain and simple. A teacher should be teaching what is in the books. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[KristyHall]

I still feel like it puts teachers in an unfair position. It reminds me of a story a few years back where a teacher was teaching anatomy and a child said they know that the skeleton replica she is using is a woman because god took one of adam's ribs to make a woman and a man is missing a rib because of it. When the teacher explained that that is not true, men and woman have the same ribs, the teacher was scolded by the child's parent's for teaching something against their beliefs.

Why should a teacher lie about a fictional character to appease parents who choose to tell the lie. She isn't saying something as intangible as say a particular god is unreal, she is saying that a well known figure that is Known to be a myth, is in fact a myth.

It's like getting mad because someone refuses to play along with a practical joke. It seems unfair.

It will be hard on me when I have children.I don't intend on telling them Santa is real. What will I do when a child from another parent insist's he is real. How will I handle that while sticking to my guns of honesty in such a manner? I certainly don't want to hurt the child, nor the parents nor do I want to teach my child that lieing about such a tiny thing is ok.

I understand being tactful, and lieing on important manners, such as saving a person's life, but Santa? Maybe I'm not looking at it from the same perspective. BUt it is a perplexing thing to me.

 

[BrattishTaz]

Quote:
A good teacher learns how to duck certain questions. It is a useful skill to have when many questions a teacher should not address are asked. Look out the window and say, "What was that?" or simply tell them to talk to their parents because the subject is not part of the lesson planned for the day.

 

[HollyBird24]

Quote:
A good teacher learns how to duck certain questions. It is a useful skill to have when many questions a teacher should not address are asked. Look out the window and say, "What was that?" or simply tell them to talk to their parents because the subject is not part of the lesson planned for the day.

And just let the kid carry on believing that men have one less ribs? That to me is being a bad teacher. Whatever the kids beliefs, facts are facts.

 

[justbugged]

Why send your child to school, if the teacher isn't allowed to teach them where the real North Pole is, and that it has nothing to do with fictional characters? The teacher was teaching the children what is really at the North Pole. Santa is the product of ad agencies. We have been brain washed to believe in the lie so that we will buy things that we don't need or want. There are billions of people on this earth that don't believe in Santa Claus. It should have to be something that is avoided, because we have bought into the lie. Children are completely capable of understanding that somethings are make believe.

If you want your kid to believe in a lie, then don't send your kid to public school. It is much safer to homeschool them, so that they only understand the world from the perspective of their parents. If you send the kid off to school, they will learn things that you never thought they might learn. They will learn that there is not Santa in real life, and they will learn about drug, sex, and politics. As long as you as a parent maintain an open relationship and dialog with your child, the kids will be fine.

 

[WriterofWords]

Quote:
OK I see your point. It is a sticky situation all the way around.

True that. Teachers really can't win these days.

No we can't win on this one. With so many different religions out there it's hard to say anything, not say anything, make this parent happy, that parent happy, this child happy, etc. In this day and age the minority have the power to force a school district to bend to their will and discriminate against the majority. I listen to arguments all day long between students of different beliefs and when you have one group informing the majority there is no Santa Clause, and we don't do gifts, and parties because it's against our religion it can get pretty hairy in class. I wouldn't tell anyone there is no Santa, and I wouldn't tell anyone there is a Santa, but when I asked it's really hard to deal with because no matter what I say I'm wrong. I always just say that's something they need to ask their parents about. I have 24 students, 22 of them want to have a gift exchange, but 2 don't believe the same way so the rest can't do the gifts without stepping on the 2's toes,,, what about the 22 sets of toes that are being trampled? Santa? He's the least of our worries. If a student were to ask if Santa really lived at the North Pole I'd say I have no idea, I've never been there.
Also,, ducking questions does not make us good teachers,, our education and experience make us good teachers.

 

[Frost Homestead]

Quote:
Well, I don't enjoy it that much. Knowing he's not real I figured it out in P6 when i saw a email from argos with christmas prez ready to be ordered. What if a 10 year old comes on (and they still believe in him) thats a ruined Christmas

If that is all Christmas is to a child, then his life won't hold much promise anyway. I think everyone eventually finds out there is no Santa and it doesn't ruin Christmas....still got the presents, still felt the love, still have family close and warm...and life still rolled on.

Managing our lives past disappointment is one of the most valuable coping mechanisms a child can learn. What does it matter if he learns it here or elsewhere? It still must be learned.

X2 Beekissed!!