To not want my son’s school to say they have “Santa Cam”

[cattyfranny]

My son is in year 2, today he said someone asked what the red light was on the wall (it’s part of the security system or similar) he told me the teacher’s explanation was that it is a “Santa cam” that he has them everywhere to watch them to make sure they’re being good.

We don’t do elf on the shelf etc and don’t ever suggest he is being watched or checked on by Santa or anyone else for that matter.

He asked me if he was being watched all the time so I told him she was just joking with them.

I don’t really think she should have said it but DH thinks I might be being too sensitive about it and it is just a lighthearted joke.

Would you be annoyed about it or am I overthinking it?

I agree, lots of children have nightmares about ‘Santa’ trying to break into their bedrooms while they’re asleep. People have gone too far with the whole thing. I’ve always told my kids its just a story, a game, but of course there isn’t really someone flying around the world and creeping into houses, and they’ve been much happier that way than some of their friends who’ve got very stressed by the whole stupid lie.

Odd thing to say. Is it a camera??

That teacher is a genius

I thought everyone told kids that. Defo common on our area

Tell him what you want him to know but tell him to keep it to himself. Other parents might do the Santa cam at home so might prefer that it’s done in school too.

I find the idea of a Santa cam less degrading that the naughty/nice list. Nothing tells a good kid they’re worth less than being good all year and not getting what they wanted because the parents can’t afford it while watching the school bully flaunt a new Xbox PlayStation and switch in a single haul.
I don’t even do Santa for that very reason but my kids know not to tell the other kids he’s not real incase that’s not what their parents want.

Santa/Santa Claus is used in Scotland, Ireland, NI, and parts of Northern England. Its not American.

My first job was in a huge school which had a speaker in each classroom for notices etc., we told the children that the Head could listen to lessons so they needed to behave.

This.

No, it's a mumsnet thing like not opening your front door, having a chicken that dies a werks worth of dinners and thinking baby showers are really vulgar.

You can’t say bloody anything anymore without some parents getting annoyed about it 🙄

I'm a teacher and generally agree with you. I still think this was a crappy thing to say to six year-olds though. Not because I object to 'lying to children by saying there's a Father Christmas' (which is indeed a hang-up I've only encountered on MN). Just because it's a low tactic and a weak and mean-spirited way of trying to make children behave.

It’s not about being ‘offended’ - it’s about a class teacher telling her child something that’s scary, whips children up into a Christmas frenzy unnecessarily and gets them stressed about something that should be fun.

Er, OP isn’t like that woman.

She’s not saying she doesn’t ‘do’ Santa - she’s just saying she doesn’t want some teacher using him as a creepy threat to try to control her class and telling kids they’ll only get presents if they’re ‘good’. What about SEN pupils who might find it hard to tick the boxes required for ‘good’ behaviour in the classroom?

Plus, there’s something really mean about making fun of kids who truly believe something and turning it around for a private joke.

I can’t believe how many teachers would do this tbh.

The teacher said it was a joke. I joke all the time with my class. It's part of having good relationships with them. I told two children who were ages in the toilet last week that I'd eaten their lunch while they were there. I did it with a twinkle in my eye and a big smile so they knew I was joking.

I’m only a recent MN poster but we’ve always been a Santa-free household.

Obv they know the story of him, but presents don’t come from Santa. It’s just a concept which I’ve been really uncomfortable with since I was a kid.

I wouldn’t get upset about it if a teacher said something like this but I would explain it’s just how some people choose to use the concept of Santa, the elf thing etc.

The teacher did not say it was a joke. The OP told her child it was a joke. Read it again.

So now the parent is having to undo things the teacher has said.

I've always found this elf 'watching' thing creepy too. We had a home made elf for years but he was only there because he was too naughty to work for FC and lived with us instead. Every day in December he did naughty tricks which made the kids laugh but he never did any spying!

My eldest child once asked why I have fairy lights in the living room a year. I said so santa can see us. Thought nothing of it for years. Then one day I noticed my youngest would always stop a tantrum, behave or start tidying up every time I put my lights on.
I asked her why. She said because santa is watching in the lights. My eldest had passed that on to my second daughter who passed it on to youngest. It hasn't traumatised them. But it worked wonders if I wanted a tantrum to stop 😜

My children are not traumatised. My teen is a very lovely and rounded 15 year old. So I haven't messed up their lives.

My kids get taught about god at school. I am not religious in any way. I can't say I get worked up about it. I would rather the santa thing than 'if you are a good person you go to heaven'

@Tadpoll

Teacher says something the parent doesn't agree with and the parent discusses it and then complains. Great.
Welcome to the world of teaching. Please don't wonder why there are no teachers to teach your children.

You're overthinking.

I'm a huge Christmas fan and did the whole Santa thing with my kids. I also work in Education, so don't readily complain about school related things! And am laidback about most things to boot.
However, school has overstepped the mark here. It's inappropriate. Parents can choose to do the Santa cam thing at home if they wish, but school is neither the time nor place. And it could cause anxiety in some younger children, which is a block to learning anyway, so pretty counterproductive!
I wouldn't be comfortable with this.

I'm in the "harmless joke" camp. How many children will believe this, remember it for more than a few days, or be worried that Santa is watching them? I doubt it does more than put some of them on their best behaviour for an hour or two.

Little kids get way too excited over Christmas and schools do add to that - Christmas plays, discos, Santa visits, concerts, carol singing, Christmas dinner, class parties, making decorations and cards, it’s all too much. Very little actual work os done in preparation for Christmas.

It would be better to focus on the curriculum and leave Santa to the parents.

Going against the grain here but I'd be irritated by that comment. I have never understood adults who think it's cute and funny to lie to children. Why make up bullshit about a camera ?

Absolutely. Why have fun in school? They should solely be working hard.

I can’t stand the naughty/nice crap. My ds has autism and might be described as a difficult child, except the truth is that he is a child struggling with difficulties from the moment he wakes in the morning. Damn right he gets presents - he’s worked far harder than any NT child. He masks in school, being a perfect student and it exhausts him - and that’s without the added fear of being watched by a camera. Ffs.