Santa Is Real and Covid Isn't Stopping Him From Coming

It’s true. Get a bunch of social scientists together and they could find fault with a sunny day.

So when social scientists debate the effect of kids believing in Santa Claus and whether it’s helpful or hurtful to a kid’s development, you really wish that society had a trap door that would send these anti-Santa Claus cretins to the outer darkness.

Unfortunately, that’s not possible. They don’t make trap doors big enough, for one thing. But also, it’s not just social scientists who are pushing the breaking of the Santa Claus myth. It’s teachers, psychiatrists, early development specialists — the whole gaggle of adults who purport to know better than parents how to raise their children.

Yahoo News:

The case for debunking the Santa legend typically centers around the belief that it’s wrong to lie to children, even about something as positive as the magic of Christmas. Advocates for telling the truth say kids’ trust in their parents can be irrevocably damaged when they inevitably realize they’ve been misled. There is also criticism concerning the lessons that belief in Santa teaches, like the idea that good behavior is only worthwhile if there’s a reward.

But many child development experts say there’s little evidence that children experience any lasting harm from the revelation that Santa isn’t real. Others argue that the Santa myth, beyond just being a lot of fun, can even benefit a child’s development by stoking imaginative thinking, providing chances to use deductive reasoning and showing them the merits of generosity.

Some “experts” appear to have their heads stuffed in the nether regions.

Santa teaches kids a perverse lesson about the sources and reasons for generosity

“Believing in the big man in the red suit is not our friend when it comes to discipline. But he could be something better — not a threat but an idea to help stoke our children’s imagination and empathy

Keep Santa, but get rid of the concept of naughty and nice

“In Santa’s eyes, you’re either ‘naughty’ or ‘nice.’ This doesn’t capture the complexity of humans, what they’re really like.

The Santa myth can be very hurtful to poor children

“Kids from low-income families learn early on that life is cruel and unfair. … Hoping that Santa will bring you something — anything — for Christmas may be the one sliver of hope you have in an otherwise bleak holiday season.

It makes you wonder who the children are here–the adults making these recommendations or the kids who know a whole helluva lot more about what Santa stands for than they do.

As far as Santa being affected by Covid, rest easy. The big fella has it under control, says NORAD’s Santa tracking page.

WHO:

“Every household, every country is having to deal with the impact of this pandemic. Santa Claus is an icon, and he is a source of joy for a lot of people,” Schlachter said.

For those worried about Santa’s safety — or their own — the bearded man likely will be wearing a mask at each stop, and of course, he’s wearing gloves, Schlachter noted. For the technically inclined, NORAD’s website offers more data on the voyage (Weight of gifts at takeoff: 60,000 tons, or 54,600 metric tons; sleigh propulsion: nine RP, or reindeer power).

A sleigh that can lift 60,000 tons? And some people were worried about Santa being slowed down by Covid?

You gotta believe.