Teacher telling 7yo that Father Christmas not real

Have you spoken to the parents of any other children? Have they reported the same thing?

I always thought this sort of thing was just made up tabloid froth.

I never knew it really happened in real life.

My sister teaches 7-8 year olds and the majority still believe at that age.

Probably most

Are you mad? Yes, many, many 7 year olds believe in Father Christmas. I have done a lot of work with the 6 to 9 year olds for many years. There are a handful of cynics with older siblings but most 7 year olds still believe for a couple of years.

By 9 it trails off pretty steeply but you still get a handful of faithful believers.

Lol

One year when DD and DS2 were at primary, they were chastised and made to write a letter of apology (to whom, at about 14 years' distance now, I cannot recall) for having 'outed' the school's Father Christmas as one of the year 3 teachers, apparently causing terminal distress to every pupil within earshot. And beyond. Quite the cause célèbre, we were led to believe. It was felt that some KS1 pupils might never get over the trauma.

Pure coincidence, apparently, that lovely Mr Year 3 and 'Santa' should share the attributes of a strong Irish accent... and the same leg in plaster.

It was not an amazingly high achieving school overall, but I'd be willing to bet that our DC were not the only ones who put two and two together, KS1 included.

Yes

I know many 7/8yrs who believe still

And thank god they do and enjoy the magic for a little longer

I prefer not to tell vulnerable and impressionable children that a magic man will creep into their bedroom at night.

Most will have been told the truth by a classmate or older sibling

And where did they get that from?

I know a religious teacher who told the class he wasn’t real whilst simultaneously telling them god is real.

Awful really, so I would believe him.

Tell your child to say that "My Mum says that FC is as real as God".

I still play along with Year 7 just in case!

Yes! In my experience the vast majority do

I call bull! I work in a school and most 7 year olds here definitely still believe in Father Christmas and I very much doubt any teacher at primary school would be telling kids he isn’t real… and who has a specialist RE teacher at 7? (Don’t get me started on any religious education provider telling anyone what is and isn’t ‘real’).

Of course there is, it isn’t her place and doing it just before Christmas especially is just mean.

Why the assumption that RE teachers believe in God? Surely you can teach religion from the perspective of what others believe and the stories and cultures without believing in a god. I love re and learning about religions but don't believe in god.

Just as my child loves Christmas stories and learning about how people celebrate the world over without believing in father Christmas. The teacher told the truth, and I'm assuming there is some context to the story as to why they said it.

That a teacher told the truth? I can see the problem and it might have been clumsily done but I'm not sure there are grounds for complaint.

^

Get more info. Having worked in a school and watched children say mistruths/outright lies or just have completely different perspectives, I would take a calm approach rather than getting annoyed off the bat

Lots do but this is mumsnet so you will get posters insisting their toddlers have worked it out and other posters insisting their child beleived untill they were 13

Well, the teacher was obviously so naughty when she was little that FC never came, so no wonder she doesn’t believe in him.

At any rate, that’s what I told 5 yo Dd1 after a wretched neighbour told her that FC wasn’t real - it worked like a charm. Mind you the neighbour had form for effing and blinding in public - as dd had witnessed - so there was some basis to go on!

That’s awful! It’s a commonly held belief amongst that age group in this country so why on earth anyone would tell them that it categorically isn't true, i really can’t understand. Even worse form an RE teacher, whose job is to share information about commonly held beliefs and teach tolerance and understanding of how different people can believe in different things. Telling any child what they believe in is untrue at that age is just so unnecessary - some of them believe in tooth fairies, general fairies, unicorns, Spider-Man, whatever! You can just teach them facts about the world without destroying the little bit of magic they experience related to these things, using neutral wording such as “well what do you believe?” If asked, until that child is ready to question for themselves.

Mine very much believed until about ten.

Just ask him to keep the story magic for his sibling for one more year.

I think they know by 5 or 6 that Father Christmas is a story. Some might have been told the vague origins.