I admit it...

[CBStew]

Well, the graph of the grades hasn't been presented yet.

I teach the 7th and 8th grades (I did mention they ranged from ages 12 to 14).

Philosophy? Morality? I swear to G-d, I thought I had seen the dumbest fucking comment possible (elsewhere), but now this. "Well done"? The whole point is that it backfired. Twice. And then there's the "Fuck those parents, Kurt. They are doing their daughter no favors. That's genuinely fucking horrible." and "borders on child abuse" crap.

It backfired twice and I'll be doing the same activity next year, if I'm teaching the same grade. (Which I probably will be.) Next week I'm going to be talking about the Decemberists' tune 12-17-12 which is about the Sandy Hook massacre. I'll remind my students that nobody is promised a long life and that we can lose loved ones at any time. In my class is a student whose father was murdered two Augusts ago, and another student whose mother was murdered last May. A third student in my class is losing her mother to breast cancer. I know these kids pretty well, and they know they can take a break/go for a walk if the subject matter hits too close to home, but there's always the risk that the conversation might make someone in the class upset. So, should I not talk about something important because it might "backfire" for one of my students?

In a room of 30 kids, there's always going to be someone who doesn't want to hear it/participate. There's always the risk, as unlikely as it may be, that a 12 year old still believes in Santa. I don't think it's child abuse to perpetuate that, but I don't think the parents are doing their kids any favors by ensuring that they are the very last ones to learn the truth. Kids can be pretty cruel and excluding even without an excuse to do so.

It may not be child abuse to encourage a 12 year old to believe in fairy tales, but these parents don't want their children to become rational adults.  That is bad parenting.  A parent's function is to help the child to become a self sustaining adult.

Our ten-year-old still fervently believes in Father Christmas.  I guess this is the last year, but if it's not, then I'm certainly not going to spoil it for her next year, or indeed the year after.  She's well on the way to becoming a self-sustaining adult regardless of whether she continues to believe in fairy tales for an arbitrary number of days more.

That said, should somebody choose to disabuse her tomorrow, then at this point I'm certainly not going to get bent out of shape about it.  We had a good run.

Pretty sure I believed until I was around 10. I might have even made it to 11, for what it's worth.

Wait a minute, are you guys saying that Santa isn't real?

Bro, Santa crashed his sleigh into a tree in 1983 and he fuckin' died, bro.

Santa, and Christmas for that matter, was not part of my religious/cultural background.  Therefore, I was very confused when, at the age of 4,while in a department store with my mother,  she dropped me off in the line waiting to see Santa.  The rummy old guy lifted me onto his lap and asked me what I wanted for Christmas.  I told him that I wanted to be an Indian (I had a fixation with Tonto at that time).  He told me that if I was a good boy and ate all of my spinach (he had a fixation on Popeye at the time) that he would bring me an Indian suit.  I shook my head and told him that I didn't want an Indian suit, I just wanted to be an Indian.  I don't remember what he said in response, after all it was 78 years ago, but he knew he had to meet his quota of lap sitters for the hour and he dumped me off and called for the next non-believer, who happened to be my older brother.  I never got an Indian suit, which didn't surprise me because I didn't believe in that guy.

[flannj]

Christmas Poo.
What the hell is wrong with you people?

[PenFoe]

Well, the graph of the grades hasn't been presented yet.

I teach the 7th and 8th grades (I did mention they ranged from ages 12 to 14).

Philosophy? Morality? I swear to G-d, I thought I had seen the dumbest fucking comment possible (elsewhere), but now this. "Well done"? The whole point is that it backfired. Twice. And then there's the "Fuck those parents, Kurt. They are doing their daughter no favors. That's genuinely fucking horrible." and "borders on child abuse" crap.

It backfired twice and I'll be doing the same activity next year, if I'm teaching the same grade. (Which I probably will be.) Next week I'm going to be talking about the Decemberists' tune 12-17-12 which is about the Sandy Hook massacre. I'll remind my students that nobody is promised a long life and that we can lose loved ones at any time. In my class is a student whose father was murdered two Augusts ago, and another student whose mother was murdered last May. A third student in my class is losing her mother to breast cancer. I know these kids pretty well, and they know they can take a break/go for a walk if the subject matter hits too close to home, but there's always the risk that the conversation might make someone in the class upset. So, should I not talk about something important because it might "backfire" for one of my students?

In a room of 30 kids, there's always going to be someone who doesn't want to hear it/participate. There's always the risk, as unlikely as it may be, that a 12 year old still believes in Santa. I don't think it's child abuse to perpetuate that, but I don't think the parents are doing their kids any favors by ensuring that they are the very last ones to learn the truth. Kids can be pretty cruel and excluding even without an excuse to do so.

It may not be child abuse to encourage a 12 year old to believe in fairy tales, but these parents don't want their children to become rational adults.  That is bad parenting.  A parent's function is to help the child to become a self sustaining adult.

Our ten-year-old still fervently believes in Father Christmas.  I guess this is the last year, but if it's not, then I'm certainly not going to spoil it for her next year, or indeed the year after.  She's well on the way to becoming a self-sustaining adult regardless of whether she continues to believe in fairy tales for an arbitrary number of days more.

That said, should somebody choose to disabuse her tomorrow, then at this point I'm certainly not going to get bent out of shape about it.  We had a good run.

Pretty sure I believed until I was around 10. I might have even made it to 11, for what it's worth.

Wait a minute, are you guys saying that Santa isn't real?

Bro, Santa crashed his sleigh into a tree in 1983 and he fuckin' died, bro.

Santa, and Christmas for that matter, was not part of my religious/cultural background.  Therefore, I was very confused when, at the age of 4,while in a department store with my mother,  she dropped me off in the line waiting to see Santa.  The rummy old guy lifted me onto his lap and asked me what I wanted for Christmas.  I told him that I wanted to be an Indian (I had a fixation with Tonto at that time).  He told me that if I was a good boy and ate all of my spinach (he had a fixation on Popeye at the time) that he would bring me an Indian suit.  I shook my head and told him that I didn't want an Indian suit, I just wanted to be an Indian.  I don't remember what he said in response, after all it was 78 years ago, but he knew he had to meet his quota of lap sitters for the hour and he dumped me off and called for the next non-believer, who happened to be my older brother.  I never got an Indian suit, which didn't surprise me because I didn't believe in that guy.

My kids (7 and 9) both definitely still believe in Santa and the absurd Elf on the Shelf mishaps that my wife and I come up with every night. 

I firmly agree with Tonk. I enjoy it, I think it's just fine for their development and when it comes to a halt, invariably soon, we'll deal with that and I'm pretty sure it's all going to be fine.

And maybe we'll get some credit for all the presents we gave them over the years instead of that fictional fat bastard.

[Canadouche]

We generally tell our son that the big ticket items are from us. Some kids just aren't going to get a lot of presents, and it's kind of messed up if one kids gets like a PS4 from Santa while another receives a lego set and some books. I think that can upset a kid.

[Saul Goodman]

Boy this terrible writing prompt for kids sure did lead to a lot of writing, hmm, really makes u think

[Bort]

My kids get their presents from Annual Gift Man. Who lives on the moon

[Canadouche]

My kids get their presents from Annual Gift Man. Who lives on the moon

I'd love to overhear that conversation at school.

[flannj]

My kids get booze for Christmas.
They think Santa works at Binny's Beverage Depot.

[CBStew]

My kids get booze for Christmas.
They think Santa works at Binny's Beverage Depot.

I assume that their gift comes with a lecture from you about the virtue of sharing?

[Brownie]

My 8 year old (pictured below) is gathering information and evidence regarding Santa Claus' existence.



Our elf's hat is no longer attached, so every time I place him, I have to put the hat on his head. A couple of times it fell off, and while my 3 year old daughter is in awe, my son is eyeing it, noting the inside rim of the hat seems to have dried glue on it.

He asked for one gift from Santa this year: a book that isn't set to be released until mid-2019. He has asked for nothing else. Santa is not getting out of this easily. Or so he thinks.

Kingsford Charcoal Briquettes are readily available at Bess Hardware, and if anyone is eligible to receive a lump of coal, it's our 8-year-old-sleuth.

[flannj]

My kids get booze for Christmas.
They think Santa works at Binny's Beverage Depot.

I assume that their gift comes with a lecture from you about the virtue of sharing?

Sharing?
Sharing was how they learned to drink when they were 12.

[Canadouche]

My 8 year old (pictured below) is gathering information and evidence regarding Santa Claus' existence.



Our elf's hat is no longer attached, so every time I place him, I have to put the hat on his head. A couple of times it fell off, and while my 3 year old daughter is in awe, my son is eyeing it, noting the inside rim of the hat seems to have dried glue on it.

He asked for one gift from Santa this year: a book that isn't set to be released until mid-2019. He has asked for nothing else. Santa is not getting out of this easily. Or so he thinks.

Kingsford Charcoal Briquettes are readily available at Bess Hardware, and if anyone is eligible to receive a lump of coal, it's our 8-year-old-sleuth.

This is awesome.

[Wheezer]

I have no idea what this "Elf on the Shelf" business is, other than skimming the results of a cursory search. One time when I was a kid, my parents *hired* a Santa to knock on the door and deliver some of the presents while I got the rest from them under the tree the next morning.

N.b. The Santa might have been one of their friends who rented a suit, and I thought the elves were some sort of baroque ritual added to the ususal Tooth Fairy routine for a while.

[PenFoe]

I have no idea what this "Elf on the Shelf" business is, other than skimming the results of a cursory search. One time when I was a kid, my parents *hired* a Santa to knock on the door and deliver some of the presents while I got the rest from them under the tree the next morning.

N.b. The Santa might have been one of their friends who rented a suit, and I thought the elves were some sort of baroque ritual added to the ususal Tooth Fairy routine for a while.

So then, you probably have limited experience with this as well?

[CBStew]

I have no idea what this "Elf on the Shelf" business is, other than skimming the results of a cursory search. One time when I was a kid, my parents *hired* a Santa to knock on the door and deliver some of the presents while I got the rest from them under the tree the next morning.

N.b. The Santa might have been one of their friends who rented a suit, and I thought the elves were some sort of baroque ritual added to the ususal Tooth Fairy routine for a while.

So then, you probably have limited experience with this as well?

Uncle Schmuel!