A Chicago anchorwoman spilled the beans about Santa Claus and quickly caught hell for it.After reporting a story on the effect the struggling economy will have on gift giving this year WFLD's Robin Robinson cut loose with an apparently unscripted editorial rant, reported as follows by the Mediabistro website:
“Santa is a symbol of the generosity of the season. You go sit on his lap and we’ll take a picture,” Robinson said, suggesting that children should be told there is no Santa as soon as they’re able to talk. “But he’s not coming down the chimney, he’s not eating those cookies, he’s not bringing you anything!”
Amen! I appreciate the candor there, Robin.
But you can guess the viewer reaction. You would have thought she looked straight into the camera and announced matter-of-factly that there is no God sitting up high on a throne looking over and watching out for us.
So the following evening she tendered an apology. "It was careless and callous to say what I said," offered Robinson.
It was the truth. But most people can't handle the truth anyway, so there you go!
I have to say that as much as I grew up in the shadow of the Bible and belief that all those tall tales were literally true, my brothers and I never were saddled with this Santa thing, nor with the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy or other such things.
And that was for the simple reason that my parents believed it was wrong to lie to their kids. Heck, it was a sin to lie, period. Just read the Ten Commandments.
For my mom it was also a very personal matter. Her very conservative mother taught her to believe in the jolly little elf with all the flying reindeer from up north. In fact, she was by her own account among the last of her childhood playmates who believed in Santa. She found out the truth during a sleepover at a friend's house. Not only was she crushed to realize that her parents would be unable to do much in the way of playing Santa Claus that year because her dad's job was on short time, but she was devastated that her mother, her Ten Commandments believing mother, had lied to her.
She early on decided that would not be case if she ever had kids. And it wasn't.
But back to Robin Robinson. Now how many children of Santa-believing age do you suppose was watching the nine o'clock news and heard her anti-Santa outburst? Even if some did it should have been a catalyst for a meaningful dialogue. If they are old enough to understand the point Robinson was making, they are old enough to hear the truth.
I like mythology. I like symbolism. I like the truth. I like what Robinson said.
I don't like the suppression of knowledge and information.
Robin, you go girl!
6 comments:
I do also value truth and knowledge as you do. But, when it comes to Santa, I'm not sure these are the values of consequence. Santa is about parents infusing Christmas with playfulness, magic, mystery, wonder, and excitement. If you look at some of the history of Christmas, it's pagan precursor was a time of debachery to puncuate the dreariness and hopelessness of winter. My oldest son figured out Santa at age 7. When children are young, they easily see fantastic things around them. Fantasy and reality are often conflated. The Santa myth makes use of this developmental period of childhood. When children's cognitive abilities allow them to figure it out, they do so and grow out of Santa belief. It doesn't have to be a traumatic revelation. You need to understand your child's cognitive development and respond appropriately. Of course, in the case of your mom, the revelation could be hard if you have a background that has a very rigid idea of truth telling, which condemns even pretending with children or telling a white lie so you can successfully throw a surprise party, for example. Our son figured it all out earlier this year at age 7, which is about when the concrete operational thought develops, allowing children to reason logically. When he explained his reasons and said he really wanted to know the truth we told him. Yes, there was a day of sadness for the loss of Santa. However, he has gone on to readily engage in the pretend with our youngest son, understanding how magical it makes Christmas when you know that Santa is on his way. It's a rite of passage to make that transition, and he is proud of himself to be on the other side. The other thing I like about it is that its one of those few cultural rituals that bind us all together. Just like the community opening up its homes to pass out candy at halloween, all the adults at Christmas have undertaken an implicit vow of silence regarding Santa to continue to make the season magical for another generation of kids.
Truth is of great value. Speaking untruth is only justified for the sake of something else of even greater value.
The idea that Santa is a fun pretend game does not strike me as something of more value than the truth. The inculcation of the value of truth from the earliest age seems to me to be better served by never lying unless in dire circumstances.
Of course, the Santa game with its subsequent exposure of falsehood does seem a good precursor for skeptical thought regarding things authority figures tell you. Maybe a benefit to this lie. But not enough to justify the lie (in one person's opinion).
@ DoOrDoNot - I was just thinking about you and the fact we haven't heard from you lately. And then here you are. Glad to have you back and thanks for your response!
I think what Robin Robinson did that was perceived as wrong was taking it upon herself to burst the Santa myth for any child that might be listening rather than letting the parents decide. But that happens.
Personally, I just don't think it is good to lie to children. I'm not aware it harmed for my parents to spare me Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. Neither did she tell me I was found under a cabbage leaf or delivered by a stork. Until she deemed I was old enough to get "the facts of life," she told me she prayed to God for me - which wasn't a lie, just an underexplanation.
I don't think my life was hampered by a lack of enchantment. I enjoyed cartoons, fantasy, science fiction, and horror movies and in fact was glad when the movie was over and my attention returned to the real world. Even though we weren't allowed to go trick-or-treating on Halloween, there was a certain magic to the season that I enjoyed, especially the ghost stories and spookiness. As a lover of myth from way back, I enjoyed with my old brother many Saturday afternoon television matinees with Hercules and Sinbad. Jason and the Argonauts was a childhood favorite.
Children are notorious for getting together and telling their friends about adult knowledge they have overheard, exactly the way my mom's friend did with Santa. I was the kind of child who would have been offended if I thought my parents were being untruthful to me and think there are many other children who are that way.
Kids are insatiably curious and I don't believe that natural curiosity is best served by having the wool pulled over their eyes. Searching for the truth and accepting the truth are things truly worthwhile. It will serve a child well throughout their lives. Might as well get them started early. That's my opinion.
@ Exrelayman - We probably sound to those who disagree about this as if we had a tough, boring childhood.
When I was a little kid, my parents used to joke that they knew I would end up becoming some kind of scientist because I would never just accept their explanation of something, but would demand evidence and/or proof (although, they didn't find it so funny when I started demanding proof about our religious beliefs, but that didn't happen until I was a little older).
Santa was no different. While I might have believed in him when I was really little (I honestly don't remember), by Christmas the year I was in kindergarten, when I was 5, I had already noticed that the handwriting on the gifts coming from Santa was identical to my mother's handwriting. I also knew that it was absolutely impossible for one person to deliver gifts to every child in the US in one night (for some reason I didn't think about Santa going to other countries to deliver gifts, but cut me some slack, I was only 5).
Thankfully, my parents did not continue trying to convince me that Santa really did exist. My mother just gave me the "Santa is a metaphor for the happiness and generosity of the Christmas season" and told me not to ruin it for my little sister. When she figured it out a few years later, she got the same speech. However, my mother never stopped writing "From Santa" on some of our Christmas presents every year. Even though all three of her kids are now in their twenties, she still does it.
As to whether it is wrong to lead kids to believe in Santa, I really don't know. I have friends for whom learning the truth about Santa was no big deal and who enjoyed the sense of fun and magic Santa brought to their childhood Christmases. But I also have friends who felt hurt and betrayed when they learned their parents had been lying to them. If I ever have kids, I honestly don't know what I'll tell them. I think it would depend heavily on my kid's personality.
@ Sammy - For me it isn't so much a right versus wrong thing. More like wise versus unwise. Perhaps it's just me, but I don't understand why children can't be educated early on. In fact, my mother had me reading simple words before I started kindergarden. But not having kids, I guess I don't have a much to say.
Post a Comment