Teacher telling 7yo that Father Christmas not real

[Peaceandquietandacuppa]

Is it reasonable for a RE teacher to tell 7 year olds that Father Christmas isn’t real?

My 7 year old DS has just told me that his RE teacher told the class Father Christmas “isn’t real” today. He isn’t one to over-exaggerate. I asked if any of the kids prompted it by asking and he said no, she just said it.

If you think it’s unreasonable, would you say anything to the school?

YABU - teachers are fine to say FC is not real at the age of 7

YANBU - let the kids / parents decide if FC is real. Just don’t say anything!

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

^

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

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.

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.

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

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’).

Yes! In my experience the vast majority do

I still play along with Year 7 just in case!

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

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.

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

Yes

I know many 7/8yrs who believe still

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

Are you in the UK? We are. Our primary school has separate lessons for IT, RE, PE and music. They are taught by the usual class teachers but they have their own specialist subjects. My DS main class teacher is the IT lead for example. Not sure if that’s usual for the UK or just our school.

I very much believe him, although appreciate I may be missing the context! I’m going to have a chat with his class teacher about it rather than go in all angry. Hopefully she will help me find out what happened and if it did happen in that way, then I’ll complain.

This did make me laugh 🤣🤣

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.

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.

Probably most

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

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

I never knew it really happened in real life.

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

Dick move if it is true, although you probably won't get the truth out of the school if it is.

Are you sure it's not your son trying to find out by saying it and seeing how you react? My eldest was a staunch believer at 7, but asked me outright at 9.

Well if the question was asked, the teacher could maybe have fudged around it. Yes maybe a bit mean. Perhaps 7 yr olds are more worldly wise than we think. Perhaps they were telling the story of St Nicholas. Context matters here, I think.

Not at all mad thanks🤪. DDs class had it sussed by 5 or 6. I assumed they were typical of 5-6yr olds. Obviously wrongly from what’s written here but I am extremely surprised.

Quite concerning that so many people don’t seem to know what RE is!

Is it a religious school?