Should we teach our children this?

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I have a dilema. I am having second thoughts about Harry Potter. Because of this I have been told not to take it too far. What is too far? Is Santa Clause a good thing? The tooth fairy? The Easter Bunny? Help me out here, because I really do not know. Any advice from a priest would be welcome. I have been told that children should be allowed to have fantasy. Isn’t this possible without these figures?
 
Teach them about everything around them from the perspective of the Catholic Church.

We did the traditional easter bunny/eggs/candy thing and we do the xmas tree/presents/lights…but that takes the back seat to more Church involvement during the season - particularly Lenten services. My children recognize the social traditions to be secular around the real matter at hand - which was the coming of Christ and His resurrection.

Harry Potter is not a real person.
He does not live in a real world.
Jesus is real and He lives with us now.
Keeping Jesus at the forefront is how the kids can remain socially in tune with things around them without compromising their faith…in fact, my kids have strengthened in their faith through the maintstream media because it offered so many opportunities for good teaching.
 
I agree with YYM,
Teach them about everything around them from the perspective of the Catholic Church.

For one “Santa” was a real person. In fact He was Saint Nicholas!
 
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YinYangMom:
Teach them about everything around them from the perspective of the Catholic Church.

We did the traditional easter bunny/eggs/candy thing and we do the xmas tree/presents/lights…but that takes the back seat to more Church involvement during the season - particularly Lenten services. My children recognize the social traditions to be secular around the real matter at hand - which was the coming of Christ and His resurrection.

Harry Potter is not a real person.
He does not live in a real world.
Jesus is real and He lives with us now.
Keeping Jesus at the forefront is how the kids can remain socially in tune with things around them without compromising their faith…in fact, my kids have strengthened in their faith through the maintstream media because it offered so many opportunities for good teaching.
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Right, this is how I do things. But, I am wondering if I am not cluttering their mind with, not only useless information like Harry Potter, the Tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny, things that are going to confuse them and stay with them the rest of their lives. I don’t know how to explain exactly what I mean. Thank you for your (name removed by moderator)ut so far.
 
I can only tell you what I was taught.
All these things were presented as having nothing to do with the truths of faith. (OK, not HP, but the ‘50s equivalent). I knew about them, but I never believed in them.
My Daddy did try to make me believe in Santa Claus when I was tiny. He dressed up as Santa. I took one look & said, “You’re not Santa; you’re Daddy!” (He laughed so hard he fell down, santa suit & all!)
I think that kids are wiser than we think. If we tell them that something is make-believe, they can tell the difference. And will enjoy that it is a game.
I also believe that we do not do children any favors by trying to fool them into thinking these things are real. How can it be good for a child, to discover that their parents lied to them?
But I don’t think we should take away the fun of fantasy from them. Why not tell them, as suggested, about Saint Nicholas? Then , they hear the truth. But they also have the fun of “pretend”. (This is why C S Lewis’ Narnia books are so great: they combine pretend with Christian truths…).
Our world wants to make kids grow up too fast all ready; let them have the fun, while teaching them the deeper meanings that often lie behind the fantasy & games…
God bless.
 
vicia3:
. But, I am wondering if I am not cluttering their mind with, not only useless information like Harry Potter, the Tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny, things that are going to confuse them and stay with them the rest of their lives. .
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you seem to have managed to figure them out, so what’s going to keep them from it? Honestly, can you imagine anyone ‘confused’ by the tooth fairy for the rest of their lives? Thought not.
You’re making a fuss out of nothing IMHO
 
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Zooey:
I can only tell you what I was taught.
All these things were presented as having nothing to do with the truths of faith. (OK, not HP, but the ‘50s equivalent). I knew about them, but I never believed in them.
My Daddy did try to make me believe in Santa Claus when I was tiny. He dressed up as Santa. I took one look & said, “You’re not Santa; you’re Daddy!” (He laughed so hard he fell down, santa suit & all!)
I think that kids are wiser than we think. If we tell them that something is make-believe, they can tell the difference. And will enjoy that it is a game.
I also believe that we do not do children any favors by trying to fool them into thinking these things are real. How can it be good for a child, to discover that their parents lied to them?
But I don’t think we should take away the fun of fantasy from them. Why not tell them, as suggested, about Saint Nicholas? Then , they hear the truth. But they also have the fun of “pretend”. (This is why C S Lewis’ Narnia books are so great: they combine pretend with Christian truths…).
Our world wants to make kids grow up too fast all ready; let them have the fun, while teaching them the deeper meanings that often lie behind the fantasy & games…
God bless.
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Well said, Zooey!:yup:
 
Absolutely children should have fantasy - but keep it Christian!

I taught my kidlets about Saint Nicholas, that he left a gift secretly in the night for a family in need. I leave money under toothy pillows but never tell the kids it’s the toothfairy. When they ask me, I say things like, “Hmm, let’s see, a fairy that flies around all night gathering up teeth and leaving money? Hmmm…” My kids know it’s me but that I am letting them believe the fantasy. I never try to overtly trick them into believing that giant bunnies and fat men sneak into the house to leave gifts. That is just creepy! But I never say thinks like, “There is no Easter Bunny!”

My kids know the truths about their faith and why I love C.S. Lewis and Tolkien but can’t stand the elitism and occultism of the Harry Potter garbage.

Funny story: When my oldest was about 4, I had just gotten through telling her about Saint NIcholas, how he now lives in Heaven with Jesus, helps us find the money to buy gifts, etc. I was very proud of my little lecture thinking I had given my intelligent daughter a respectful education.

Well, 4 year olds only remember what they want to remember. The next time the neighbor’s 3 year old brought up Santa, my lovely child blurted in her know-it-all way, “There is no Santa - he’s dead!”
 
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becauseIsaidso:
Absolutely children should have fantasy - but keep it Christian!

I taught my kidlets about Saint Nicholas, that he left a gift secretly in the night for a family in need. I leave money under toothy pillows but never tell the kids it’s the toothfairy. When they ask me, I say things like, “Hmm, let’s see, a fairy that flies around all night gathering up teeth and leaving money? Hmmm…” My kids know it’s me but that I am letting them believe the fantasy. I never try to overtly trick them into believing that giant bunnies and fat men sneak into the house to leave gifts. That is just creepy! But I never say thinks like, “There is no Easter Bunny!”

My kids know the truths about their faith and why I love C.S. Lewis and Tolkien but can’t stand the elitism and occultism of the Harry Potter garbage.

Funny story: When my oldest was about 4, I had just gotten through telling her about Saint NIcholas, how he now lives in Heaven with Jesus, helps us find the money to buy gifts, etc. I was very proud of my little lecture thinking I had given my intelligent daughter a respectful education.

Well, 4 year olds only remember what they want to remember. The next time the neighbor’s 3 year old brought up Santa, my lovely child blurted in her know-it-all way, “There is no Santa - he’s dead!”
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That is a great story. :rotfl:

I tell my kids about Saint Nicholas and I tell them that there is a tooth fairy (uncomfortably so) and, up to this point, I have accepted Harry Potter into my house hold. I am a neo-phite and am learning as time goes by. I do not want to fill their heads with nonscense. But at the same time, I want them to have fantasy. I am just trying to discern where to draw the line. Thank you all for your (name removed by moderator)ut so far.
:tiphat:
 
I voted none of the above.

I don’t believe we should teach children to believe in any of those things. It’s fine to go hunting for Easter eggs, and have stockings at Christmas, and dress up for Halloween, but the fairy tales take kids’ focus away from the importance of the day, or put importance on one where there isn’t one (like losing teeth) (although, now that I think about it, that particular belief isn’t too bad). Kids need to know (they are told, but all to often they don’t really know) the true significance of the days they are celebrating. Easter is the resurrection, Christmas is the birth of Jesus, Halloween is All Saints Eve (and kids need to know this, because a lot people think halloween is purely evil), as far as I know, losing teeth isn’t a religious occasion, which is why I’m starting to think belief in the tooth fairy isn’t bad. I think the Harry Potter movies are entertaining, although I’ve heard the books are more controversial than the movies. I am 23 years old and can look at it from an entertainment perspective only- however, they may inspire a child to dig into the occult- in which case, they shouldn’t have anything to do with them.
 
I’m not entirely sure about all of the posts. Why can one not talk about the tooth fairy, but can about Santa Claus? St. Nicholas is not officially on the Vatican list of saints anymore. Also if you think it takes the emphasis of religion off a religious day, then you have to mkae sure that the emphasis is religion. Focus on what will be interesting religious stories. I’m also not sure about stopping Harry Potter, theres not that much bad stuff in them, that cannot be established as complete fantasy.

I also wouldn’t press religion to hard. You can tell your kids all you want about religion and there will still be parts they never fully understand, Harry Potter etc. is aimed at younger audiances and is entertaining, as kids grow up they realise what is real and what is not. To be honset, I was never that interested in all aspects of religion untill my confirmation, when I felt I could understand it fully, at a younger age I did find Harry Potter and Narnia far more ineterseting. I would get your kids interested in religion, but equal it out slightly. 🙂
 
Children look to adults to explain the world to them–after all, they’re newcomers here. Some people take the Santa Claus-Easter Bunny thing too far, trying to create a literal belief in the characters. I think it’s wrong and harmful to abuse the credulity of a child. When the child has been led to believe wholeheartedly in Santa, and then learns the truth, the child feels betrayed, and later in life this can lead to cynicism about religion. (If the adults in his life lied to him about Santa, how can he believe them about God?)

When my kids were small I told them about St. Nicholas in heaven, and explained that Santa Claus was “pretend.” They could grasp the concept of pretend.
 
It was taught to us; so why not them. Children will soon or later discover they are traditional-fictional charachters. “You’re not suppose to tell her that the tooth fair ain’t real!” Child: “I already know the fair ain’t real! I just wanted the :twocents: so I wouldn’t have to ask mommy for :twocents: to buy me candy all the time.” Everyone: :rotfl: .

Santa also = Sinterklaas.
 
I also think that saying children will feel bad because people have lied about made up characters is wrong. I think that when the children have seen it has happened to virtually every other child they wil understand it is not quite ‘lying’.
 
My 9-year old asked “Mom, is Santa Claus real, or have you been lying to me all this time?” That was all I needed to hear to learn my lesson. To a child, (and probably to God, too) there is only truth or untruth (a.k.a. “lie”).

I was taught that all these characters existed and also passed on the “tradition” to my children, but I never emphasized Christ’s role in the holidays. I cannot remember one Christmas/Easter as a child that I actually gave much thought to Jesus…it was all about the toys & candy. But hey, maybe that’s just me.

I tried to imagine what the Blessed Mother would want me to do.

I fessed up and told ALL my children the complete truth…and boy, did I feel the freedom! No more sneaking around, concocting one lie after another, staying up late wrapping presents, slipping coins under pillows, etc.
Our new family slogan: “Keep Christ in Christmas…Give Santa the Boot!” The kids and I wink and giggle when we talk about these imaginary characters now.

My littlest one told me later that she was a little sad that there really was no Santa, but someday if we ever had another baby, we could teach that baby the right way from the start. Those were her exact words.

In my opinion, it’s just a subtle ploy to remove God from our lives…maybe it began innocently…maybe. But it’s probably the MOST insidious tactic ever created because it is “cheerfully” passed from one generation to another.

Children need to learn, hear, and speak truth from birth. Be honest…what possible **harm ** could come to a child that is told the truth about Santa and the others? Conversely, what possible **good ** could come from being honest with them?

As far as Harry Potter, if the Church warns us about something, we should listen.

I’m not sure if ALL fantasy is good for children…
Definition of Fantasy: (1) imagination unrestricted by reality; (2) something many people believe that is false. :hmmm: :ehh:
Pretending to be super-heroes, mommies, teachers, doctors…that kind of fantasy sounds ok to me.
 
I’m not sure about the negative views on Harry Potter. People are saying ‘the church’ has spoke out against it, but it has not officially, no pope has ever condemmed Harry Potter. Cardinal Ratzinger once made a little statement about it, not Pope Benedict XVI. That says something in itself. I’m sure that people probably read far too much into Cardinal Ratzingers statement than he realy intended, and I am quite confident that he would agree that there are far mor important things concerning a childs life than the fictional books they read.
 
Just about everything I know about Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed and Ichabod Crane, I learned in a Catholic elementary school. It was part and parcel of what was later to become known as “language arts”. The experience does not seem to have had any lasting effect on my spiritual life or quest for salvation…

Given our cultural attention-span and obsession for the “trendy”, it’s reasonable to assume that Harry Potter will be consigned to the generational trash-heap sometime within the next 15 minutes or so.

Don’t get overly-concerned with it. HP is not about to supplant Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy anytime soon. :rolleyes:
 
Johnny Appleseed was a real person

It’s not whether we teach about those characters, but what we teach about them
How do you all feel about the kneeeling Santa at Christmas masses for children?
 
Grace & Peace!

I would argue that fantasy is incredibly important to children (and adults, for that matter). Exercising the imagination is key to being what the Catholic Tolkien, for instance, believed people were: sub-creators.

I still have to wrap my head around this, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, and these are some of the things I’ve been thinking about.

We can look at it this way–the world is symbolic and sacramental–that is, it points to its referent (God) and simultaneously makes it present. It reveals and conceals. To read the world–or let’s call it nature–to read nature is an act of interpretation and an act of seeking for God. To read nature is also to internalize nature that is, to imagine it, or to fantasize it, which imagining often takes on the quality of a narrative or story. This is key in a process of understanding, and how we form the story of the world we live in, how we interpret it, and how we tell it, often determines how we make and re-make the world (for good or ill) with or against God and/or each other.

Look at the nightly news–the weather forecaster who says, “bad weather coming” tells a particular story about the world–that the forces of the weather are bad, something from which we need to protect ourselves or of which we must be wary. Calling the weather bad can even influence how others view the day–a perfectly fresh rainy morning can be miserable to one who was told that “the weather will be bad”. It’s a process of creation–some people may even choose to call it magical in its way.

It could be argued that the best stories are those that preserve the mystery of the symbol/sacrament of nature, who render the symbol most clearly–indeed, it is one thing to attempt to render the symbol clear or clearer, it is another to devalue the symbol entirely, or to try to make it symbolize what it does not symbolize. This is not a process of naturalism–to render the symbol clearly does not (necessarily) mean painting realistic landscapes as opposed to cubist portraits, or making 19th century naturalistic drama after Zola as opposed to the absurdism of Beckett. It is a process of rendering the symbol without maiming it, or belittling it, or taking it for granted. It can be questioned without spoiling its integrity, it can be incredibly fantasized and still remain intact.

This, for instance, is why Tolkien was not a big fan of Lewis’ Chronicles–he thought Lewis was allegorizing too much, making too many one-to-one comparisons and equations–I think this boils down to a criticism that Lewis did not imagine big enough or well enough for Tolkien’s taste. Tolkien’s own epic, however, is incredibly symbolic rather than allegorical and bears the stamp of a very Christian worldview.

The Easter Bunny, then, is an attempt to imagine new and fecund life, brimming over with possibility and wonder and newness and yes, given the symbols employed, sexuality too. It’s a pagan symbol, sure, but not for all that untrue in its way.

Santa Claus is less potent than Saint Nicholas, I think, because it is the world trying to understand the holy, but still, it contains a seed of the holy.

Even the Tooth Fairy can render some meaning, representing a mystery of change and transformation, the growing older of the young, the transformation of teeth into money (or we could say, teeth into gold, lead into gold) being almost a plea to value the youth we are losing and not take it for granted–what she is nostalgia, reflection, mourning, loss.

I wouldn’t classify Harry Potter with these others, though. He has yet to become a true icon. He may be popular, but he is no icon, no window onto a greater mystery. Not yet, at any rate–though you could call his stories a magical Bildungsroman or development tale, like those popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Anyway, my two!

Under the Mercy,

Mark

Deo Gratias!
 
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Libero:
I’m not entirely sure about all of the posts. Why can one not talk about the tooth fairy, but can about Santa Claus? St. Nicholas is not officially on the Vatican list of saints anymore.
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yes, he is, he is a real, documented historical personage, but his feast is no longer on the revised universal calendar of the Church, but is a feast in countries of whom he is the traditional patron, and an optional memorial in other countries.
 
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