Christmas is almost here! With wide-eyed anticipation, many kids around the world will unwrap presents under the Christmas tree and enjoy a snowy day with their friends and families. Older kids and teenagers will know the truth: Santa did not physically come down through the chimney and place the presents underneath the tree, nor did he playfully put fake coal into the “problem” child’s stocking, and it was not him who ate the milk and cookies left on the living room counter. The work was done by the parents.

Younger children, however, will believe a Christmas miracle took place. They’ll be in absolute awe that jolly ol’ St. Nick visited their house on Christmas and still had time to visit every other good boy and girl’s house in the entire world, all in one night. They’ll ponder the acoustic impossibility that they slept through Santa’s reindeer landing on their roof without hearing them. The old man escapes once again without the chance to catch a glimpse of him as he uses his magic to slide down the chimney and rest the presents under the tree. The children will still enjoy a sense of helping, as they noticed Santa ate the milk and cookies that were specifically left for him as their sign of reciprocity for Santa's generousness. These sugary treats are vital to keeping his jolly belly full to combat the drag and weariness accumulated throughout his worldwide adventure. Visiting every house in the world in one night is tremendous work that only the power of sugar can help facilitate.

Although Christmas is a time of relaxation and joy, I still wanted to write about an important topic relevant to the season that requires some careful thought and examination.

I pose this question to anyone who reads this article:

Is it moral to lie to children about Santa Claus? Is knowingly lying to children and telling them that a fantasy is real a behavior society should deem as appropriate?

I can’t see you read this article, but I imagine your defense systems are already up and running. You may dismiss the idea as ridiculous. After all, you were lied to about Santa Claus and turned out relatively okay. There’s no harm in it.

Lying to children about Santa is nothing more than an innocuous bit of fun designed to enhance their childhood experiences. It’s a playful distraction from the real world.

I agree that children should be shielded from some harsher realities of the real world. A child doesn’t need to know about the grittier aspects of adult life, but I don’t agree that telling them a make-believe story is real fits that category. There is no good reason to tell children that magic exists when it doesn’t. No one tells their children that the story of the three little pigs is real, or that the story of Goldilocks is based on facts, so why do we make Santa an exception to the rule?

Some people argue that telling their kids Santa is real is an easier way to explain to them the reasons why Christmas is celebrated in the first place. My immediate response to that argument is: how does that make it easier to explain? It complicates the matter, especially if the child is inquisitive. The cascading effect may never end:

"How does Santa get into our house on Christmas?"
"Santa slides down through the chimney"
"How does he do that?"
"He uses magic"
"Where does he get his magical powers?"
"From the powers inside the milk and cookies you leave for him"
"How come Santa gets magic from milk and cookies and I don't?"

The cat-and-mouse series of questioning continues ad nauseam until you tire out and leave the room or topple the entire house of lies over by making an inconsistency in your story that the child notices. In short, taking the mythological route is a road with an exponentially increasing number of subpaths and divides.

The path of least resistance is simply telling the truth. The reason why we gave presents to one another is because we care about each other, and we express that care by exchanging presents and stuffing stockings full with candies and trinkets. We are good to one another because we have an ingrained sense of empathy. We are good to those we care about in the expectation that they are also good to us because both parties mutually benefit from the affection goodness produces. Indeed, we are good for goodness sake.

In contrast, the story of Santa Claus implies that children are only good to avoid punishment (to avoid receiving coal instead of presents). The motivation is stripped from empathetic mutual self-interest between closely related groups to bare instinctual reaction, duly promoting a distance between parent and child as well as the exacerbating the authority imbalance between them. The story of Santa Claus serves as a metaphor for children to accept parental authority. Considering this perspective, read the lyrics of the popular song "Santa Claus is coming to town" and immerse yourself in the true meaning of the chorus.

You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town

The tone of the language is surprisingly threatening for a children's song. Notice the declarative, authoritative statements made - You betteris mentioned three times. Better what? Better watch out! Not cry. Not pout. Isn't you better watch out something a gangster would say to a poor, thieving schmuck who owes him money? A loose, non-musical translation of the chorus could read something like this: "Your father bought you something, so be grateful he's home to give you a present."

In some European traditions, the parental power imbalance is further magnified by separating the reward and punishment aspects into two characters: St. Nicholas (reward) and Krampus (punishment). Krampus is a demon who punishes naughty children by giving them coal and, in the darker, extreme versions, physically beating the children with birch branches, kidnapping them, eating them, drowning them, or sending them to Hell. To tell a child that Santa is real is questionable enough, but to tell children Krampus is real is, quite simply, covert child abuse.

Bad reasons aside, are there any good reasons to tell children magic is real?

There is a semi-reasonable line of logic people use when referring to another mythical creature, the Tooth Fairy. Parents often tell their children the Tooth Fairy is real for two reasons: to bribe them with money to give up their now-fallen baby teeth and to alleviate the fear children experience when a body part falls out of their mouth for no apparent reason. The desire to alleviate a child's fear is a humane and acceptable motivation for talking to them, but the goal can still be accomplished using an alternative route without resorting to lying about the supernatural. Assure the child, with a soft, non-threatening tone, that the process of losing baby teeth is normal and natural, and losing teeth has no negative side effects or consequences whatsoever. Moreover, assure them that new, stronger, bigger teeth will sprout in the baby tooth's place, which will give them a fuller, richer, more beautiful smile than they had with their old teeth.

Children have a variety of responses to being told the truth about Santa, ranging from relief to contempt that their parents lied to them—systematically—for years. Children are naturally curious about the real world, and their curiosity should be fostered by their parents who realize that the truth about reality is many times more fascinating than made-up stories.

This doesn’t mean the story of Santa Claus shouldn’t be talked about to children, and that children can’t celebrate Christmas or appreciate the cultural value of the holiday. Santa should be explained in the framework of a story and represented as a symbol of Christmas and gift giving, not as a symbol of parental authority. Framing the story of Santa in this context allows parents to be honest with their children while maintaining the spirit of Christmas, which is about exchanging genuine care with human beings. Telling someone the truth is an exercise of genuine affection towards that person.

It may be difficult to do, as a child who already knows the truth will most likely be in the minority among his peers. He may experience some hostility from his companions, in a twisted Christmas version of Plato’s Allegory in the Cave, but that child is better off in the long run.

Children have enough lies and myths they will have to grapple with as they mature into critically thinking adults in a society which is predicated on disinformation. Giving them one less myth to dispel in their lives is a gift they will appreciate later in life. When you unwrap gifts with your friends and families on Christmas, remember that gifts don’t always come in boxes and wrappers. The positive qualities you radiate with your actions and gestures, your words and phrases, can be refreshing and inspiring to those around you.

Have a safe, relaxing Christmas!