Religious Ed teacher telling kids there is no Santa

[Contra_Mundum_1]

I have noticed a few points on this thread that have been repeated by several people and would really like an explanation because I feel like we are not speaking the same language.

1. What is a personal interpretation of Christmas? Does this suggest that we are now deciding what makes Christmas, or is it just about minor customs around it?
   If it is about these less important customs - such as Santa - why does this element have such a prominent spot for many Catholic families? Because last time I checked, Christmas is the celebration of Birth of Jesus. There is no personal interpretation of anything here.
2. The second thing that bothers me is the insistence that the teacher had no right to tell the children the truth about the Santa custom. I think it would be wrong for a random person to correct other people’s children about the nature of this custom, but a religion ed teacher is not a random person. If parents are sending their children to this class then surely they expect the children to be taught the Catholic faith. The faith teaches about the saints, including St Nicholas, but not the current version of Santa that has pretty much become a symbol of a secular celebration of Christmas. I don’t understand how the teacher was wrong to teach the children what the church teaches about Christmas in the context of a religious education class.

Please guys. am I missing something here?

 

[gracepoole]

I have noticed a few points on this thread that have been repeated by several people and would really like an explanation because I feel like we are not speaking the same language.

1. What is a personal interpretation of Christmas? Does this suggest that we are now deciding what makes Christmas, or is it just about minor customs around it?
   If it is about these less important customs - such as Santa - why does this element have such a prominent spot for many Catholic families? Because last time I checked, Christmas is the celebration of Birth of Jesus. There is no personal interpretation of anything here.
2. The second thing that bothers me is the insistence that the teacher had no right to tell the children the truth about the Santa custom. I think it would be wrong for a random person to correct other people’s children about the nature of this custom, but a religion ed teacher is not a random person. If parents are sending their children to this class then surely they expect the children to be taught the Catholic faith. The faith teaches about the saints, including St Nicholas, but not the current version of Santa that has pretty much become a symbol of a secular celebration of Christmas. I don’t understand how the teacher was wrong to teach the children what the church teaches about Christmas in the context of a religious education class.

Please guys. am I missing something here?

Yes. The Church has not prohibited Catholics from sharing Santa Clause with their children. The teacher certainly could have taught about St. Nicholas or a dozen Catholic Christmas customs. She could have, as you say, “taught the Catholic faith.” This isn’t the same as spilling the beans about Santa. Families can instruct children on the origins and import of Christmas as the time of Christ’s birth while at the same time allowing for Santa to deliver a present. The two are not mutually exclusive.

 

[EasterJoy]

…How do you think a religious Ed teacher should handle this. If a parent wishes to educate a delicate naive child themselves the not only have that right but it is the way it should be. Too many parents drop their kids off in programs as a proxy religious education.

The religious ed teacher should ask these questions:

Is what I am about to say necessary?
Is it kind?
Is it my job to say it?

Which is to say, the teacher can just shut up about Santa Claus and change the subject to what the class is actually studying, which is not Santa Claus.

The truth is, if a class is teasing a classmate for believing in Santa Claus or for not believing in Santa Claus, either way, the teacher ought to call them off and tell them to kindly mind their own business, leave their classmate alone, and get back to the topic of study.

See how easy that is?

Your parishes religious Ed program is different than mine if you think many parents are praying about It. Religious Ed in the third or fourth grade, The op’s grand child’s range, is pretty heavy. It’s after first reconciliation and communion. … Actually this thread would not even be here if the children were catechized properly by the primary educators of the faith. The parents.

Oh, so if parents don’t pull their child from the parish’s religious education as soon as they receive their First Holy Communion, you feel safe in concluding they’re bad parents who don’t pray?

I am not just my child’s primary educator of the faith. I am my child’s primary educator, PERIOD. It doesn’t matter if it is religion or physics, it is my duty and my right to see to my child’s education. It is not a bad reflection on me as a parent when I make use of formal educational opportunities offered by my parish, nor does that constitute any abdication of my rights as a parent. Any teacher, whether in religious education or otherwise, who gets big ideas about their authority to advance their little agenda that is not in the curriculum needs to switch his or her noodle.

 

[alphawoman]

It would be interesting to hear parents’ opinions on a situation where a religious Ed teacher corrects teaching by parents on substantive theological topics, where the parent’s initial instruction to the child was flawed (I.e. Inconsistent with church teaching). I suspect such a situation isn’t rare.

 

[12345678]

I have noticed a few points on this thread that have been repeated by several people and would really like an explanation because I feel like we are not speaking the same language.

1. What is a personal interpretation of Christmas? Does this suggest that we are now deciding what makes Christmas, or is it just about minor customs around it?
   If it is about these less important customs - such as Santa - why does this element have such a prominent spot for many Catholic families? Because last time I checked, Christmas is the celebration of Birth of Jesus. There is no personal interpretation of anything here.
2. The second thing that bothers me is the insistence that the teacher had no right to tell the children the truth about the Santa custom. I think it would be wrong for a random person to correct other people’s children about the nature of this custom, but a religion ed teacher is not a random person. If parents are sending their children to this class then surely they expect the children to be taught the Catholic faith. The faith teaches about the saints, including St Nicholas, but not the current version of Santa that has pretty much become a symbol of a secular celebration of Christmas. I don’t understand how the teacher was wrong to teach the children what the church teaches about Christmas in the context of a religious education class.

Please guys. am I missing something here?

Just curious, would you be ok with a Catholic school Kindergarten teacher telling her students that there is no Santa during Religion class? How about a PreK Catholic school teacher?

 

[maryjk]

Please guys. am I missing something here?

Yes.

It is all well and good to teach about the saints. I know when I taught, I introduced a saint every week. They do the same in our parish RCIA class.

And St Nicholas is a great saint to introduce. But why do it well before his feast day?

Wouldn’t the class be talking about Advent? Or do we skip the prep time nowadays and move right on to Christmas?

I’m with those who think Santa shouldn’t have been a topic. And if the question came up, the teacher should have sent the child home with the question. It is the same thing that should happen when a young child asks about pets in heaven or parents in heaven. The teacher should give sympathy, and send that question home.

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

Just curious, would you be ok with a Catholic school Kindergarten teacher telling her students that there is no Santa during Religion class? How about a PreK Catholic school teacher?

I think that Santa in its current, pseudo religious incarnation has no room in Catholic teaching. If at home parents want to make this a part of Christmas that is their business. But Catholic religious education classes should teach the faith.

 

[EasterJoy]

I think that Santa in its current, pseudo religious incarnation has no room in Catholic teaching. If at home parents want to make this a part of Christmas that is their business. But Catholic religious education classes should teach the faith.

It’s current what?

The story of Santa Claus is a folk custom, not a heresy. It is meant as something fun for children. It can get out of hand, just like birthday celebrations can get out of hand, but religious education classes should not treat Santa Claus like some kind of anti-Christ.

 

[Boccherini]

For those who expect the religious ed teacher to say “ask your parents, people have different beliefs on this subject” – this is like a version of postmodernist cultural relativism for nine year olds.

Actually it’s worse, because no one actually does believe in Santa Claus, I mean in a man who goes around with a bunch of elves on Christmas Eve giving the world’s children presents (I don’t mean the original St Nicholas).

If your child is old enough to receive serious religious instruction in school, she’s old enough to be told Santa Claus is just a story, otherwise she’s at risk of getting it confused with the actual religious teaching, the actual meaning of Christmas.

Or, to put it another way, if your children grow up believing in Christianity only the way that the author of that Virginia editorial believed in Santa, they’re going to find it easy to abandon. Even I “believe” in God as a metaphor for the meaning of the universe as a whole.

Granted, the teacher should have handled this in a different way since the girl ended up in tears, but that presumably was not what he or she expected.
If a child still believes in Santa at nine, there’s a real risk she’s going to have her feelings hurt when she finds out the truth and I don’t understand why any parent would risk that for something so unimportant.

 

[12345678]

For those who expect the religious ed teacher to say “ask your parents, people have different beliefs on this subject” – this is like a version of postmodernist cultural relativism for nine year olds.

Actually it’s worse, because no one actually does believe in Santa Claus, I mean in a man who goes around with a bunch of elves on Christmas Eve giving the world’s children presents (I don’t mean the original St Nicholas).

If your child is old enough to receive serious religious instruction in school, she’s old enough to be told Santa Claus is just a story, otherwise she’s at risk of getting it confused with the actual religious teaching, the actual meaning of Christmas.

Or, to put it another way, if your children grow up believing in Christianity only the way that the author of that Virginia editorial believed in Santa, they’re going to find it easy to abandon. Even I “believe” in God as a metaphor for the meaning of the universe as a whole.

Granted, the teacher should have handled this in a different way since the girl ended up in tears, but that presumably was not what he or she expected.
If a child still believes in Santa at nine, there’s a real risk she’s going to have her feelings hurt when she finds out the truth and I don’t understand why any parent would risk that for something so unimportant.

Our Catholic school starts at age 3, and our religious ed parish classes start at first grade. They teach actual religious teachings in both. Should those teachers be informing their kids about Santa? Why need to talk about it at all? If it comes up, there are many ways to address it without confirming something erroneous. Should the tooth fairy be banned as well, to not risk children becoming atheists?

 

[maryjk]

Our Catholic school starts at age 3, and our religious ed parish classes start at first grade. They teach actual religious teachings in both. Should those teachers be informing their kids about Santa? Why need to talk about it at all? If it comes up, there are many ways to address it without confirming something erroneous. Should the tooth fairy be banned as well, to not risk children becoming atheists?

Exactly.

Our Sunday school classes start at 3 years old. So, I guess at three, children should be told straight up, “NO Santa.”

My own child believed until he was about 9 or 10. He figured it out for himself. There were no lasting effects. And he faith is still strong. He never equated Santa being a myth as being the same as Christ being a myth. He saw it for what it was. Fun.

Oh, and we had the tooth fairy, the Ester Bunny, Santa and the St Patrick’s day leprechaun.

 

[Boccherini]

If it comes up during the class, and the teacher can’t prevent someone from bringing it up, chances are the other kids are going to discuss it during breaks.

What I really think is maybe that children shouldn’t be believing in these things at an age where they would feel deceived at finding out the truth. Also it isn’t nice to feel that one is the last person to find our the truth.

 

[12345678]

I think that Santa in its current, pseudo religious incarnation has no room in Catholic teaching. If at home parents want to make this a part of Christmas that is their business. But Catholic religious education classes should teach the faith.

I agree, teach the faith. No need to bring Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny or anything else into the picture. There are ways to address questions without ruining it for all the other kids.

I am surprised at the amount of people that think 9 is too old to believe. I think there are children that are innocent enough to enjoy the excitement of Santa at age 9… Honestly, my experience growing up and what I have seen with my kids, was that the ones that find out sooner seem to be the ones that learn other things earlier as well. I am talking about those who believed, but found out early on that Santa wasn’t “real”, not about those whose families chose not to include Santa, For example, a boy in my daughter’s class who announced Santa was fake to everyone early on, later went on to be the same boy explaining the mechanics of sex to the class. I am not saying it is always like this for everyone at all, just pointing out the experiences I have had, that some kids that find out “early” have older kids in their lives that may talk to them about things that they don’t need to be talking with them about.

 

[Maximilan_Kolbe]

Our Catholic school starts at age 3, and our religious ed parish classes start at first grade. They teach actual religious teachings in both. Should those teachers be informing their kids about Santa? Why need to talk about it at all? If it comes up, there are many ways to address it without confirming something erroneous. Should the tooth fairy be banned as well, to not risk children becoming atheists?

To think you have to dispel every loosely tangential belief to teach the faith to children is silly nonsense. Again, show me the syllabus. Show me the curriculum. I doubt it mentions the dispelling of myths at all. People just keep offering their opinions, but the teacher isn’t there to each based on her whims and opinions, and as such, these are mostly irrelevant.

There are a whole host of topics we could interject into religious ed if we start ad libbing the curricula. As someone mentioned, I’d prefer my eight-year old not be given a discussion on sodomy because “hey, this is what we believe as Catholics. Wouldn’t want to keep these kids ignorant, you know.”

As a child who was told Santa wasn’t real at some point in my youth my a loving mother, I was super-sensitive to classmates who still believed in him. Apparently, this teacher lacks the tact and basic common sense of an eight year old boy when it comes to another family’s traditions.

Like I said, do any of us really wants random folks usurping our authority and rights as a parent because they know better? We have a number of agnostic and atheist posters on here, which is great for a myriad of reasons. However, I can’t believe they’d be cool with me spending my free time explaining to their kids why much of what their parents believe is wrong, each and every day, while wraning them of the reality of eternal damnation. And that’s just for starters. Once I’ve explained why their parents are incorrect with regards to the creator of the Universe, we can start in on grooming habits, morality and what is acceptable for children, proper discipline, and continue from there.

Once again, show me the syllabus, or reference in the Catechism that mandates disavowing of Santa in all children, or lets just admit it has nothing to do with theology or religion, and that a fervent belief in Christ and his humble birth for us and a child beliving in Santa for a few years are not mutally exclusive. If there is evidence to the contrary (other than rehashed opinions), please share it.

 

[UbiCaritas]

To think you have to dispel every loosely tangential belief to teach the faith to children is silly nonsense. Again, show me the syllabus. Show me the curriculum. I doubt it mentions the dispelling of myths at all. People just keep offering their opinions, but the teacher isn’t there to each based on her whims and opinions, and as such, these are mostly irrelevant.

There are a whole host of topics we could interject into religious ed if we start ad libbing the curricula. As someone mentioned, I’d prefer my eight-year old not be given a discussion on sodomy because “hey, this is what we believe as Catholics. Wouldn’t want to keep these kids ignorant, you know.”

As a child who was told Santa wasn’t real at some point in my youth my a loving mother, I was super-sensitive to classmates who still believed in him. Apparently, this teacher lacks the tact and basic common sense of an eight year old boy when it comes to another family’s traditions.

Like I said, do any of us really wants random folks usurping our authority and rights as a parent because they know better? We have a number of agnostic and atheist posters on here, which is great for a myriad of reasons. However, I can’t believe they’d be cool with me spending my free time explaining to their kids why much of what their parents believe is wrong, each and every day, while wraning them of the reality of eternal damnation. And that’s just for starters. Once I’ve explained why their parents are incorrect with regards to the creator of the Universe, we can start in on grooming habits, morality and what is acceptable for children, proper discipline, and continue from there.

Once again, show me the syllabus, or reference in the Catechism that mandates disavowing of Santa in all children, or lets just admit it has nothing to do with theology or religion, and that a fervent belief in Christ and his humble birth for us and a child beliving in Santa for a few years are not mutally exclusive. If there is evidence to the contrary (other than rehashed opinions), please share it.

Precisely.

I really enjoy reading the “Miss Read” books, set in England in the 60s/70s/80s. At one point, one of the characters has had to step in to take care of her nieces and nephew over Christmas due to her sister-in-law’s illness. She feels a little out of her depth, as she’s a highly competent secretary in a major firm but is also an old maid, and perfectly happy with that situation as it is.

One of the older kids, who is “in” on Santa at about 8-9ish, starts to imply to the younger sibling that he’s not real. The aunt handles it beautifully: keeps the focus at Christmas on Christ, but also loops in the older kid to help make Christmas special for the younger, now that she’s old enough to understand, a sort of passageway to adulthood. No traumas, no lack of focus on Christ, but also teaching the older girl a lesson about the magic of Christmas being in making it a happy time for others.

 

[Boccherini]

Like I said, do any of us really wants random folks usurping our authority and rights as a parent because they know better? We have a number of agnostic and atheist posters on here, which is great for a myriad of reasons. However, I can’t believe they’d be cool with me spending my free time explaining to their kids why much of what their parents believe is wrong, each and every day, while wraning them of the reality of eternal damnation. And that’s just for starters. Once I’ve explained why their parents are incorrect with regards to the creator of the Universe, we can start in on grooming habits, morality and what is acceptable for children, proper discipline, and continue from there.

I don’t see why you think Santa is of the same order of importance as this.
The parents wouldn’t send their children to a school where you taught and if they did and you did tell their children that they are going to hell, you would lose your job.

Imagine being the headmaster of a school where a parent complains because his 9 year old has been told by a teacher that his dad or mom is going to hell.
Now compare that to being the headmaster and the parent complains because his 9 year old’s belief in Santa Claus has been shattered.

 

[Maximilan_Kolbe]

I don’t see why you think Santa is of the same order of importance as this.
The parents wouldn’t send their children to a school where you taught and if they did and you did tell their children that they are going to hell, you would lose your job.

Imagine being the headmaster of a school where a parent complains because his 9 year old has been told by a teacher that his dad or mom is going to hell.
Now compare that to being the headmaster and the parent complains because his 9 year old’s belief in Santa Claus has been shattered.

It doesn’t matter. They aren’t your children. Once you begin unilaterally deciding what is important and what isn’t, all bets are off. Cats and dogs living together. Mass hysteria.

Again, my issue isn’t with the specific tradition per se, but the notion that someone else will decide what my children should or should not believe or enjoy.

 

[PhiloMed]

It doesn’t matter. They aren’t your children. Once you begin unilaterally deciding what is important and what isn’t, all bets are off. Cats and dogs living together. Mass hysteria.

Again, my issue isn’t with the specific tradition per se, but the notion that someone else will decide what my children should or should not believe or enjoy.

And when you least expect it, here comes a 200 foot marshmallow man!

Hats off on quoting a Catholic actor.

 

[Maximilan_Kolbe]

And when you least expect it, here comes a 200 foot marshmallow man!

Hats off on quoting a Catholic actor.

Fantastic movie and cast.:tiphat:

*Personally, I liked the university. They gave us money and facilities, we didn’t have to produce anything! You’ve never been out of college! You don’t know what it’s like out there! I’ve worked in the private sector. They expect results. *

 

[JB_Brother_4446]

Saint Nicholas is real. Santa isn’t. End of story.