Religious Ed teacher telling kids there is no Santa

[Allegra]

You know I like you on these boards. Even if on this thread you are wacko! Now for some proper theology for kids let’s watch elf.

Btw. I do like elf…

I assume you are being somewhat facetious, but I wonder if everyone understands that there are several versions of Santa Claus that one can believe in, even as an adult, that don’t require simultaneously accepting every single overly-commercialized aspect of the legend that exists. After all, St. Nicolas is a real live, historical figure, whom the Church has seen fit to declare alive with Christ in heaven. Children can be encouraged to talk to him, ask him for gifts for themselves and others, and to consider the stories of his generosity as a good example. Elf on the Shelf, flying reindeer, the north pole, and the Island of Misfit Toys are all extra fluff that one need not accept as gospel truth in order to “believe in Santa”.

 

[UbiCaritas]

I was just thinking about Tolkien (and Lewis) with regards to this issue. Yes, the stories are fiction, but they are also true. - in that they point to the Truth.

I’m aware of consumerism, materialism, and corporate greed, especially at this time of year. I know how some folks “do Santa.” But I also know we had him first. Just like Halloween, Mardi Gras, St. Patrick’s Day, etc. The secular world will do what they want with these. But in my house these fun traditions will help us tell the Truth to our kids, not detract from it.

Precisely. Here, we can have the fun of dressing up without having our kids (or ourselves) in revealing costumes on Halloween; we can feast on pancakes and bacon on Mardi Gras without flashing the neighbors or skipping out on fasting the next day; we can listen to folk music and dance and wear green and be proud of our Irish heritage and of St. Patrick without getting behind the wheel smashed out of our minds. Through those traditions, we teach our kids about feast as well as famine; we can teach them the “Lorica of St. Patrick” (good man, sound views on snakes) and to consider St. Patrick one of “our” saints, a friend to ask for help in times of need, and so on. We can teach them that Christianity has joy as well as sorrow, and that that’s part of the world and reality we live in.

 

[meltzerboy]

Sometimes I wake up and think I am in the twilight zone…

I love Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone as well as Santa Claus, yet do not suffer from any type of schizophrenia.

 

[12345678]

No santa equals sodomy? Well I guess if the families of the children were celebrating a day of sodomy and the kids talked about it in class and it was all over the comercials… Wait, maybe they are closer to the same example in this culture.

I sure see a lot of jumping on some religious ed program with no facts provided about how or why this was done.

Bottom line is we expect the nine year old to understand the bread and wine si the body and blood, we expect them to understand the death and suffering of our Lord and the Saints but Santa… that is just drawing the line…

Wait till she finds out what happened on Good Friday and that the Easter Bunny does not exist. Unless we keep kids away from the triduum nowadays…

Perhaps the fact that the 9 year old understands that the Holy Eucharist IS a mystery, that we cannot explain everything with what our 6 senses experience, and that the Paschal mystery IS a mystery, that we cannot explain everything with our human minds, perhaps that is why they can believe in Santa Claus, whatever that may be.

 

[Millie123]

Can I say that slurs like this really irk me…I don’t see a single person posting here is a “scrooge” I have a very deep and intense love and affection for the holiday and i see a very strong love and affection for Christmas in every person posting here. I do not teach the Santa Claus tradition in my family but that does not mean that I do not think that it is appropriate to interfere on other people’s holiday traditions, I think that it is wrong to reveal santa claus to children who hold this tradition in their family. If I am to respect another family’s santa tradition…shouldn’t my traditions of not doing santa also be respected without being slurred? I also don’t teach the reality of Hobbits in my family, does that make me an orc?

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Perhaps the fact that the 9 year old understands that the Holy Eucharist IS a mystery, that we cannot explain everything with what our 6 senses experience, and that the Paschal mystery IS a mystery, that we cannot explain everything with our human minds, perhaps that is why they can believe in Santa Claus, whatever that may be.

The fact remains that one is real…

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

To be fair, It made me wince a little. But yes, people get upset about the weirdest things flying reindeer and all.

Some on this thread seem to think that parents who dont tell their kids this fairy tale are depriving them of a childhood and imaginations…

 

[UbiCaritas]

The fact remains that one is real…

I’m reminded of a mother I once assisted at the bookstore at which I worked.

She came in, and requested “Christian fiction” for her 10-12 year olds. I naively recommended the “Narnia” series, which led to a several-minute spittle-flecked rant about how talking animals aren’t “real,” and witches are “evil,” (I don’t think that Lewis painted them as anything but?) and how if we let our kids read “lies” then they won’t believe in God.

My observation that Christ taught in parables wasn’t especially appreciated.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

I’m reminded of a mother I once assisted at the bookstore at which I worked.

She came in, and requested “Christian fiction” for her 10-12 year olds. I naively recommended the “Narnia” series, which led to a several-minute spittle-flecked rant about how talking animals aren’t “real,” and witches are “evil,” (I don’t think that Lewis painted them as anything but?) and how if we let our kids read “lies” then they won’t believe in God.

My observation that Christ taught in parables wasn’t especially appreciated.

This is exactly how a person should approach santa. As a parable. No one expects a child to hear the parable of the harvesters and think the only way to get to heaven is to work on a farm. or even that the parable is real.

This afternoon my kids are playing star wars. they are imagining themselves in space fighting against aliens and saving princeses from other planets. None of them think it is reality. And I sure don’t lie to them and tell them it is. I don’t ask them to believe Aslan is real and is what Jesus looks like…

 

[Millie123]

It is a slur, or maybe it’s just the entire flow of this thread today…very little charity offered to others…you want me to respect the traditions of Santa’s that strangers have in their homes (I dont believe in santa…but i can respect others traditions, I can do that…)but turn around and call those he don’t hold santa as scrooge is a slur. It’s a slur

 

[Maximilan_Kolbe]

To be fair, It made me wince a little. But yes, people get upset about the weirdest things flying reindeer and all.

Some on this thread seem to think that parents who dont tell their kids this fairy tale are depriving them of a childhood and imaginations…

I haven’t seen too much denouncing of Santa vs No-Santa as right and wrong, frankly. I can see both sides, and get it, especially among fellow Catholics.

My ire was raised when the statement was made that the decision should be taken out of the hands of the parents, who best know their own children, and in many cases, have prayed and ruminated long on the topic.

If I made it my business to correct every parenting style or teaching I disagreed with, short of anything abusive, I’d A) be ostracized from every person I know, including my family and B) run myself ragged concerning myself with that which is none of my business.

Let the Santa folks have their traditions, and the non-Santa folks have theirs, and let the religious instructors stick to curriculum guided by the Catechism. I could probably pick apart their lives and decisions as well, but who am I to do that?

 

[Millie123]

Yes, this letter has been posted every year either in the newspaper, in a magazine, on some online blog, or someone reads it aloud on some Christmas TV special. Iv read this letter, I’ve been read this letter over and over and over again for a good 30 plus years. I have as much warmth towards this letter as I do towards the Charlie Brown Christmas special…meaning that I’ve seen it so frequently that to me it’s ad nauseum

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

I haven’t seen too much denouncing of Santa vs No-Santa as right and wrong, frankly. I can see both sides, and get it, especially among fellow Catholics.

My ire was raised when the statement was made that the decision should be taken out of the hands of the parents, who best know their own children, and in many cases, have prayed and ruminated long on the topic.

If I made it my business to correct every parenting style or teaching I disagreed with, short of anything abusive, I’d A) be ostracized from every person I know, including my family and B) run myself ragged concerning myself with that which is none of my business.

Let the Santa folks have their traditions, and the non-Santa folks have theirs, and let the religious instructors stick to curriculum guided by the Catechism. I could probably pick apart their lives and decisions as well, but who am I to do that?

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. 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. Actually this thread would not even be here if the children were catechized properly by the primary educators of the faith. The parents.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Complaints in the religious Ed program in my parish this year alone.

K-12. Note that all of these are age appropriate. So for example no lesbian adoption questions to first graders…

1). Ssm is not a catholic view
2). Masturbation is wrong
3). A state of grace is required for the Eucharist
4). Contraception is wrong
5. The miracle of the sun happened
6 padre pio bilocated.
7. Bodies are resurrected at the end of ages.
8 hell exists
9. Mercy exists
10 pro life marches
Etc. there are always others.

Talking about st nick as a saint and not a flying reindeer felon… Well that is an odd thing to be upset about to me.

 

[marymary1975]

Our just turned 9 year old granddaughter came home from religious ed crying that the teacher told them there was no such thing as Santa or Rudolf or any of it. It was all a myth. I am intending to find out exactly what the circumstances are around this incident. Did one of the kids in class maybe ask her if Santa was real or not? Or did she just decide on her own the kids need to know this is just a myth? I don’t yet know the details. But what upsets me is really two fold. Especially if she is one of those people who believes in total ‘reality’ thinking for children and came out with this declaration without any prompting, how does she know where a child is in their maturing into the knowledge of ‘The Santa Story’? Both of my older grandkids of course are fully aware of the truth, but we told them the story of course at appropriate ages about St. Nicholas that was so kind and generous to the children, and was in fact the real Santa. And that Christmas because of the birth of Christ is a truly mystical time of year because of that. Not that the birth of Christ is something ‘make believe’ at all don’t misunderstand, but because it is such a miracle that Christ did in fact come to us as a baby in the manger, it is truly a miraculous and mystical, wonderful and joyous time of year, and that many miracles do indeed happen at Christmas. They were not TRAUMATIZED in the least bit. Neither was their Mom when I told her as a child.

Secondly, these grandkids of mine have gone through very some very tough times in their family dynamics recently, and this was the LAST thing my poor little girl needed at this time. Not that the Santa thing is really life shattering, but she is almost at the age where this will be coming up anyway, and if this teacher knew what she has already in the last few weeks been through, I’m at least hoping she would have been wise enough to somehow gloss over the subject.

And I guess my third question is: Why would the Santa story take away from the Birth of Christ unless the Birth of Christ was not emphasized by the family as being number one? Heck, I even remember Mother Angelica on one of her Christmas programs asking one of the little ones about Santa.

And to be fair, I have kind of a bad taste in my mouth about this Parish’s religious ed program, because when I had my daughter there, one of her teachers told them that NOTHING happened when they die. No Heaven, Hell or Purgatory…just NOTHINGNESS. Ha!! Believe me, I went marching down there and demanded that teacher be dismissed for teaching atheism vs. Catholicism…and thank the Lord, she was. Can’t even compare that incident with this one, of course, but I wonder what it is about some of these religious ed teachers? We will probably have to tell her the story of St. Nicholas before she was really ready thanks to this woman, and she has been through quite enough within the last few weeks for a child that just turned 9. So…yep…I am more than a little upset. Not sure how much of a deal to make out of it, or just to forget it and chalk it up to just another set back.

I am so sorry that thus happened to.you.

The way you told the story to your older grandkids is exactly the same way I’ve been doing with my kids. My daughter at 8.once asked me.if Santa was real and I told her that yes he was a bishop living in Turkey that took presents to the kids to celebrate Jesus and when he died he became saint Nicholas and she was very happy with the answer. That teacher could have said something like that instead of saying he didn’t exits. I would have been very mad too.

Personally I’ve also.had some bad experiences.with religious ed programs in the past. Sometimes the teachers say things that they shouldn’t.

 

[gracepoole]

Actually this thread would not even be here if the children were catechized properly by the primary educators of the faith. The parents.

:ehh:

My kids are properly catechized at home **and **in our parish.

(And they believe in Santa)

 

[Evania]

Complaints in the religious Ed program in my parish this year alone.

K-12. Note that all of these are age appropriate. So for example no lesbian adoption questions to first graders…

1). Ssm is not a catholic view
2). Masturbation is wrong
3). A state of grace is required for the Eucharist
4). Contraception is wrong
5. The miracle of the sun happened
6 padre pio bilocated.
7. Bodies are resurrected at the end of ages.
8 hell exists
9. Mercy exists
10 pro life marches
Etc. there are always others.

Talking about st nick as a saint and not a flying reindeer felon… Well that is an odd thing to be upset about to me.

It should still be left up to the families to decide. Whether it’s considered an “odd” thing to be upset about is irrelevant. Was this in the syllabus or did she take it upon herself to “decide” on behalf of the parents? If she decided on a whim to push her view on Christmas on the kids, it was wrong. If it was in the lesson plans, a call or note home to the parents would be a fair course of action to take. I’m sorry if that view seems so unreasonable that it makes you feel like you’re in the Twilight Zone, however I just think it’s common courtesy.

 

[alphawoman]

You needed an appropriate emoticon to convey the joke, like a wink. It came across poorly as posted. Deep breaths, Jeff.

 

[EasterJoy]

…My ire was raised when the statement was made that the decision should be taken out of the hands of the parents, who best know their own children, and in many cases, have prayed and ruminated long on the topic.

If I made it my business to correct every parenting style or teaching I disagreed with, short of anything abusive, I’d A) be ostracized from every person I know, including my family and B) run myself ragged concerning myself with that which is none of my business.

Let the Santa folks have their traditions, and the non-Santa folks have theirs, and let the religious instructors stick to curriculum guided by the Catechism. I could probably pick apart their lives and decisions as well, but who am I to do that?

This. There is much to be said for the habit of refraining from correcting those who are not ours to correct on things that do not need to be corrected when they have not asked for our (name removed by moderator)ut.

If someone asks a question here, they are asking for opinions. That does not mean everyone wants or needs our opinions.

Parents ought to be able to send their children to religious education in their parish without busybodies second-guessing how they handle the folk traditions surrounding Christmas, whether they observe them or not.

 

[12345678]

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. 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. Actually this thread would not even be here if the children were catechized properly by the primary educators of the faith. The parents.

Huh? I don’t get what you are saying here… Are you saying the child was not catechized properly because she believed in Santa? Or are you saying religious education would not exist if parents educated their children in the faith? If the former, I simply disagree. If the latter, I don’t agree either. Parents can educate their children in the faith and it can still be beneficial to receive more education from the parish or another source IF this education is actually educating in the faith as well.