Two academics have urged parents to stop pretending Father Christmas is real in case the "lie" damages their relationship with their children. It risks undermining a child's trust and is morally suspect, according to psychologist Christopher Boyle and social scientist Kathy McKay.
Their paper A Wonderful Lie, published in The Lancet Psychiatry and reported by the Telegraph, says: "If they [parents] are capable of lying about something so special and magical, can they be relied upon to continue as the guardians of wisdom and truth?"
I don't understand. Are you saying Father Christmas isn't real?
I hate to be the one to break it to you, but no, he isn't.
I had my suspicions. I once saw mommy kissing Santa Claus; nice to know it was all legit.
But is it legitimate to tell children an entirely mythological figure really exists? That's what the professors are worried about. And if you think about it, there's certainly a case to answer. One thing they point out is that it might not be such a bright idea to tell them there's an intelligence agency that's scarier than the FBI, the NSA, the CIA, MI5 and MI6 all put together, focused entirely on children. It's supposed to track children's behaviour obsessively, analysing patters of altruism and selfishness. Each year it is responsible for issuing or withholding rewards based on its findings.
Sorry, who tells them that?
Anyone who tells them Santa won't bring them any presents if they haven't been good.
Ah, yes. Put like that, it does sound a bit, well, creepy. But look, I believed in Father Christmas and it never did me any harm.
Indeed, and some parents go to excessive lengths to promote the illusion. Fake reindeer hoofprints in the snow are not unknown, carrots with bites taken out and half-eaten mince pies – somewhere, someone has done it. But hardliners – both Christian and not – push back against the idea that we should be telling children things that aren't true. The professors say in their paper: "If adults have been lying about Santa, even though it has usually been well intentioned, what else is a lie? If Santa isn't real, are fairies real? Is magic? Is God?"
It's a tough one.
Up to a point, perhaps. But another way of looking at it is to say that these academics come across as a pair of joyless rationalists, like Charles Dickens' Mr Gradgrind, intent on expunging all traces of imagination, creativity, poetry and spirituality from the younger generation.
That seems a little harsh.
The teacher Thomas Gradgrind says in Bleak House: "Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir!"
Fair enough. But their point about telling children lies needs answering, doesn't it?
Another way of putting it is to say that it's an imaginative version of the truth, which helps accustom children to the idea that there's more to this world than meets the eye. It keeps the world enchanted. It develops the spiritual belief muscles. It pushes back against the Gradgrinds of this world who dominate the education system and want to reduce everything to facts and numbers. It helps gives children the mental tools they need to believe.
Put like that, it's quite Christian, then?
I think so, yes. Children are quite capable of sorting out essentials from inessentials when they reach the appropriate age; we shouldn't worry too much triggering non-existent anxieties about giant information-gathering organisations or permanently damaging their capacity for trust.
Snowflake generation?
Snowflake generation.
Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods
