If you send your kid to secondary school still believing in Santa the resulting fallout is on your head

[Stripitout]

Try and weigh up how important your Christmas magic is against your kid being mercilessly teased when their peers find out they still believe

Im guessing your kid has been bullying someone over this and the other child’s parents are annoyed; but instead of dealing with your child being a bully (the topic doesn’t matter), you’re blaming the other parents?

And no - 11 year olds are not going to take the view that it’s cute or sweet. Your kid is gonna have a hard time

No.

But my mates kid is having a fucking hard time after talking about Santa on the school bus !

Surely there aren't really 11 year olds who believe in Father Christmas?

And of all the ways to find out your parents have lied to you - that’s a pretty shitty one

I told my child the summer before year 7 about santa, and about the Easter bunny and tooth fairy so he wouldn't be bullied

Kid’s should be pulled up for teasing, especially if it’s gone on for more than the bus ride. It’s one thing for them to all have a bit of a joke when the kids first mentioned Santa, but it’s another to keep it going. If the child is having quite a hard time then it sounds like the other kids are keeping it going and that’s too far.
The child who still believed in Santa should be able to say, “Ha, silly me, what an idiot” to his/her friends and then move on from it.

The topic doesn’t matter, continuing to bully and make fun of this kid isn’t OK.

Yep I did the same in yr 5 primary because dd was telling me about getting into an argument with her friend who said Santa didn’t exist
it’s sad but sometimes it’s just time!

Most 11/12 year old believe as in “can Santa get me this ‘wink wink’ haha”
Was her kid not just saying it that kind of way and the other kids took it seriously?

No - there really are!!

No he still believed.

year 5 has got to be the tail end of it surely ?

beyond that it’s not about the magic for the kid, it’s about you!

In my experience as a teacher it's a rare child who believes beyond the age of 7. Playground gossip sees to that.

Always made sure my kids knew before they went to secondary.

I'm all for the magic of Xmas, but kids can be so mean in school, having them go still believing is just setting them up for a rough time (sadly)

See this intrigues me how children now get upset with parents about being lied to about things like Santa and the tooth fairy. I can't remember when I found out when I was young, but I don't ever remember thinking my parents were awful for telling me something that was supposed to be magical or enchanting, in fact I probably felt sad that it wasn't true but happy that I had lots of good memories that my parents had helped create. I wonder how that change in attitude has come about

I guess in families that don’t actively believe in God, and have traditions and rituals around Christmas Father Christmas becomes more important, and without the fantasy of that they don’t have much to hold their Christmas together with.

This is utter bullshit.

You think people who don’t believe in God hold their Christmas together with bloody Santa? That’s idiotic.

I agree , a girl in our year in first year still believed and we had to tell her the truth so she wouldn't get mocked. She was devastated and I'm in Ireland where we were all 12/13 going into first year , so it was even more ridiculous that she still believed

I always play the 'what do you mean Father Christmas is not real' with my Year 7s. This week though, one of them talked about Christmas and the myth of Father Christmas and I could see one student visibly confused and then upset as she realised.

It makes me sad, but I think they need to know before they go to high school.

@MumonabikeE5 absolute bollocks. I've been an atheist since I was a teen and love Xmas. It's cultural and there was a mid-winter celebration long before Christianity.

You should make sure they know before secondary school. Along with how babies are made.

I'd say the issue is mean kids not still believing.

Teach your kids not to bully first and foremost.

My daughter did still believe before going to Secondary schools. I told her and she took it well. She is now 24 and said she was really sad but glad that she didn’t go to secondary still believing. And it didn’t take the magic of Christmas away.

Are you one these that thinks parents should tell children Santa is real at any age, because it’s “lying to your children”?

Why not tell them the story of St Nicholas and how santa originally came to be?

I'm another one amazed that an 11 year old still believes. My 8yo figured it out, and as such I know the 5yo is on borrowed time before her sister spills 😏.