Aibu - secondary and Santa

[obviouslymarvellous]

So yesterday my ds (year 7) told me that his RE teacher had told them that Santa was made up and nonsense. Now I'm not being a snowflake or anything and we had already told him that Santa only comes to younger children and he himself would be being Santa this year for his younger sisters, so I'm a little bit peeved that a teacher has spoiled it all. Ds said a few girls were crying in the class. I just don't think it's a teachers responsibility to tell children about Santa it's a parental job but maybe AIBU?

My dd11 has a child in her year who still believes in Santa maybe more I dk and has children who don't believe don't see the issue weather they believe or not but could see her friend being upset to learn this in lesson not to extent she would cry about it though my dd11 started questioning if he's real or not around age 9 by age 10 she knew he wasn't the whole class questioned it around same time but one at least continues to believe

I think there's quite a lot of clear water between believing in FC and smoking/having sex.

For real??

My oldest is 10 and he certainly didn’t believe last year and is in on all this stuff helping keep his younger siblings believing and maybe he might be laughing but a year 7! Not knowing wow.

I would expect a child of 8 or 9 to know that santa is not real. I knew at age 5 albeit by accident. I had suspected anyway. In secondary school children should know. A girl at my school in the first year of secondary school argued with others that santa was real. She got the mickey took out of her.

I don't think it is unexpected that a few y7s will still believe in Santa. I think my DDs would have if we'd let them. Both were quite 'young' and unquestioning.

otoh I am also not surprised that a secondary teacher would mention Santa in an 'of course he's not real' kind of way.

On the whole, I think that parents should make sure they realise they are stories before they start secondary.

I made sure my dd knew before secondary school. It is irresponsible to expect anyone working or attending secondary school to still play along with Santa. She's y8 now
I remember my sister breaking the news to her sensitive son. Who's now an adult and is a police officer in a pretty tricky city.
It's better to help them through this phase rather than leave other people to shock them and take the piss out of them.
I find it impossible to believe that children were crying about this.
The teacher could have been a bit gentler but they did nothing wrong by not being.

The thing is: this isn't someone interrupting the children's chat just before Christmas with a scornful 'You do know that Father Christmas isn't real!' It's an RE teacher in September. I would guess that it was in the context of different people believing different things, and some people thinking that God is a myth 'just like Father Christmas', while others believe thatl God is very real. Or similar. The teacher may have been wrong to assume that all secondary pupils know that Father Christmas isn't real, but quite honestly, most do, or at least have easy access to this information through TV, books, the Internet, etc. By 11, you can't censor everything that might disillusion children about Father Christmas!

Complain to the school- All the teachers will think you are insane and will be really kind to your child as a result!

Anyone else picturing some poor mortified young RE NQT faced with a crying class and potential parental complaints about a ruined Christmas?

It crossed my mind noble.
Are there bonus points available if pseudo-psychological terms are used to harrowingly describe the depths of festive related trauma that's been caused and the irreparable damage done to family traditions?

Ds said a few girls were crying in the class

I absolutely do not believe that anyone in a class of 11 and 12 year olds was crying because they'd been told Father Christmas wasn't real. I just don't. I'm also interested that your son made a point of saying it was only girls who were crying. It just sounds totally made up to me, sorry.

If I had a child who was still gullible enough at the age of 11/12 to believe that a magic man lives in the North Pole and flies around the world in the sky on Christmas Eve in a sleigh pulled by magic reindeer delivering toys made by elves, I would not think it was cute. I'd be genuinely a bit worried about them.

I think all children should know these things or they're wide open to bullying and being called a baby

I think all children (certainly by Year 7) absolutely do know these things...

Find it massively hypocritical for an RE teacher to tell kids Santa isn't real, I hope the teacher teaches the RE lessons with same distinction between fact and belief. My friend's DD 11 had to be told in the 6 weeks that Santa wasn't real, and she was in floods of tears, but was told for fear she would be bullied.

The most astonishing thing about this thread is how many people have no fucking idea how RE is generally taught these days

I told my daughter the summer before she went to secondary school that he wasn’t real. She honestly hadn’t worked it out and was gutted! I was the same at her age 🙈 I casually asked my son who has just started secondary school the other day, he said his friend told him about 2 years ago and he’s just been playing along 🤣 I don’t think it’s right to let them go to secondary school still believing

FGS!! What is wrong with some of you! Do you want your child to be ridiculed? Is there no realisation whatsoever that you are going against the grain? Surely secondary school teachers should be expecting/ training children to think critically? How can they do their job effectively with parents who infantilise their [almost] teenage offspring ???

Believing in santa at secondary school? Oh dear!!!! You need to let him grow up.

I don't think any year 7's believe in Santa anymore and would be really surprised to find any that did. Are you sure this was news to your son?? I thought most children had it figured out by around 8? Is your son pulling your leg here?

or they're wide open to bullying and being called a baby

Hopefully you’ve raised your children to know better at 11

We were trying to do this www.google.co.uk/amp/s/articles.aplus.com/a/how-to-break-news-about-santa-claus.amp

I don't really get it. Do we actually have to break it to our kids that santa doesn't exist? I thought it was just a gradual dawning realisation which they go through in early primary school. Is there some joke here that I'm missing?

But Santa is real

My kids asked me one day if he was real so I told them the truth. They all knew not to piss on other kids parades and discuss it with kids who hadn't been let into the secret though.