This is just a nice essay I found on lies told to kids, and thought it might prove for some interesting discussion. Anyone disagree, have examples, etc.? http://paulgraham.com/lies.html
some points I think pearants should lie to kids because young children don't posses the understanding of the would to comprehend things like death. I think that over the years he 'lies we tell kids' has just got a bit out of hand as we do it more often and keep doing it to avoid conversations we would rather leave to someone else to exsplain.
yhea i agre but on things like death,sufering and injustice but parents shouldent lie with thing like for example: ``santa clause exists´´ to me thats the worst way they can lie (if you have told that to your kids, CLOSE THIS THREAD NOW!! I DONT WANT YOU READING ME!) I MEAN... teling your children the meaning of crismas is a fat guy working on geting every one gifts AND IT DOESENT STOP THERE!!! not only do you lie to your kids you polude the media and other children´s minds with this but yhea when it comes to serious things some times you should lie to children
Yet that's not usually why parents tell kids about Santa. People say that because kids have a very limited concept of money. If kids know that it's their parents buying them gifts, they'll immediately jump to, "Well why can't you do that all the time?" Having a guy that only does this once a year is far easier to explain. Parents can still say that this man represents what Christmas is about because he gives without expecting anything in return.
Just to add onto the whole Santa Claus discussion... Santa Claus is also a nice behavioral tool that parents employ to make sure their children behave. Compare to the Boogeyman, the Easter Bunny, and any number of other beings. One might also, depending on the religious views of an individual, view God/Jesus as this sort of thing as well. They all watch your actions and then decide to reward you. In Santa Claus' case with presents/candy. Easter Bunny with eggs/candy. The Boogeyman would scare/eat bad children. I don't recall when Santa Claus became associated with my parents to me as a child. But then again I never asked if he was real. I never really asked questions that would prompt lies from my parents. For instance, my dealings with death happened rather recently and I had a fair idea of what went on in the process. So there was no reason to tell me anything aside from the truth. And I had an idea that it was unavoidable at the time for them. That they were not going to get better and come home. However, had I been younger my parents would probably have told me something to the effect of 'Grandpa's in Heaven'. Which fulfills an answer to the question, be they spoken or not. And it would put the child's mind at ease. Would a child understand death? Probably if their parents taught them about it at an early age. Same could be said for any of the subjects the author of the article brought up. Sex, drugs, death. He even brings up how in same areas of the world, that girls become mothers at the age of 14. I remember one of my Hmong friends was, as their culture and traditions were, was engaged in Junior High. A big deal was not made by the teachers probably to avoid conflict. And that's the education standpoint in focus. We trust individuals who could be very biased or slanted in their standings to teach our children. And I didn't notice this until I attended college actually. For instance, from my own research, I knew JFK was a womanizer yet this was never brought up in any history course and when the question was asked...was dismissed as propaganda against him. My history books painted JFK as a martyr who died for his country. No mention of Marylin Monroe or any of his drug habits were brought up. Do we lie to our kids? Yes Is this fact going to change anytime soon? No. It's a societal norm.
