Santa Claus is a legend that many children around the world grow up with. Kids are told they need to be good in order to receive presents, and that “Santa is watching.” Some children are directly told by their families that presents received are from mom and dad, and that they can’t ruin the illusion for other kids. What kind of lasting effects does this leave on children?

      According to The Washington Post, “Children must all find out eventually that their parents have blatantly and consistently carried on a lie for a number of years,” they write. “If adults have been lying about Santa, even though it has usually been well intentioned, what else is a lie?” This can cause distrust for children and cause them to be more likely to not believe things trusted adults have told them if the idea of Santa is something they were affected by as children.

    The Washington Post continues by describing research that was recently done. The studies done by psychologist Jacqueline D. Wooley states, “children were more likely to believe in the existence of a pretend animal called a “surnit” when they were told the animal was used by doctors and scientists, compared with when they were told it was collected by dragons and ghosts.” The research continued, “Her research also showed children are more likely to believe information when it came from a relevant expert.”

      Some parents even decided to take the route of explaining the story of Santa Claus but tell their kids how all the presents they receive come from family. They make sure to tell them that Santa is real for other kids. This can avoid the idea of Santa becoming a behavior mechanism, to try and convince children to act a certain way. According to parentingtranslator.substack.com, “Critics of Santa argue that using a fictional character to judge behavior and the idea of a “naughty” and “nice” list is not only ineffective but moreover teaches children to behave only to avoid being on the “naughty” list and that this messaging may even have a negative impact on children in the long-term.”

      Regardless, if the tradition is something you participated in, and something you want to continue, there is no harm in continuing on with the tale of Saint Nick.