ImaginationLand

Should parents lie to their children about the existence of Santa Claus? First of all, let me get this link out of the way http://www.pbs.org/parents/special/article-winter-is-it-okay-to-lie-about-santa.html. This website gave me some insight on another way to think about this whole question. When I first thought about whether or not parents should lie to their kids, I decided that they shouldn't. I say that because the children are going to be devastated when they find out the truth, (depending on what age the child actually finds out), and because the parent is setting their self up for double standard. The double standard is the parent telling the child not to ever lie to them, even though, the parent has lied to their child about multiple things. Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, Superheros, and so on and so forth. But then I started to think about it. Why can't they lie about to their kids about Santa Claus? What's the harm? My parents lied to me about Santa Claus and I came out just fine. I assume your parents lied to you about Santa Claus and look at you, you came out just fine. Some came out better than others, but that's another topic for another day. To be honest with you, Santa Claus and the Tooth fairy and the Easter bunny are more realistic to us as a society than all of the other things we have to go through in our everyday life. I say that because we enjoy the concept of believing in magical and fantasy-like ideas. It makes us feel better and these beloved characters mean so much to us and have a special place in our hearts. I'm sure we all remember the South Park episode/movie named Imaginationland. (If you haven't, go watch it.) Here's a Youtube link to the part that of the episode that correlates to this topic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hmD4MTcq64. In this segment of the episode, Kyle talks about the impact that these fantasy creatures have had on our life, and more importantly, our way of life. These characters were here before we were born and they are going to stay here long after we are gone. Telling kids about Santa Claus doesn't actually require lying. Parents are simply encouraging their kids to take part in a fantasy. When parents take their kids to see a movie, or when they read their children a book all they are doing is encouraging the child to participate in this utopia.
I remember all of the excitement and joy I felt every Christmas morning waking up believing that Santa Claus presented me with the gifts under the Christmas tree. Now I would have been just as happy if my parents told me that they bought me those presents instead of Santa. But the holiday tradition is more valuable then the presents that are received on Christmas morning. The holiday season is my favorite season. Maybe because of Santa Claus, maybe because of the food. But because I know the holiday season is here, I am more happy than I have been this whole year. I will stay happy and when I have children of my own, I will tell them about Santa Claus and the Easter bunny and the Tooth Fairy. And I would bet my bottom dollar that they will come out just fine.