Is it Good to Trick Children?

By Saxon Evans

Growing up, almost every kid fantasizes about the holidays. There is a simple reason behind this: the magical figures that go with each holiday. Parents all around the world tell their children about the amazing Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. As each of these is made up, it gives adults the freedom to make them as mystical as they want them. When kids hear of these seemingly magical beings, they have new things to be excited about and look forward to. But is it really good to trick your children like this?

When kids are told about these figures, they are also told that they come with gifts. Christmas is the largest gift giving holiday in the world, which is easily justified by wanting to buy gifts for your loved ones. However, a majority of the gifts that are bought are given by a stranger, Santa Claus. Almost every child in the world is told about Santa, the magic man who can make it to every kid in the world in one night. Santa becomes the only thing that the children are interested in, they lose their excitement to see their family and to celebrate the real reason for Christmas. Easter goes hand in hand with this. The only thing that a lot of kids think about when they hear Easter is the Easter Bunny, and they don’t even know what Easter is about. In both of these instances, you can easily observe how these made up things can take away from traditional, religious celebrations. The aspect of religion in holidays is almost non-existent in a child’s view because they are too overcome with the want for presents orgifts. This can result in a huge obstacle of struggling to really getinto the holidays when they are older because they will have to go back and learn what they are actually celebrating, because they will not have these holiday creatures as a crutch forever.

The Tooth Fairy doesn’t belong to any holiday but it does come back each time something big happens for kids. Everyone loses their teeth, obviously, so it makes sense that just about everyone knows the Tooth Fairy. A lot of times, parents will use it as a strategy to help get their kids to let their teeth be pulled. This isn’t a bad thing, but it can create some bad tendencies very easily. Since children are promised a reward from the Tooth Fairy (usually money), they will become eager to lose teeth and let them be pulled, all so that they can get a dollar. Harmless, right? Wrong. This can create a dependency on a reward for a child to behave well. It is so common that after getting a reward fro something that happens naturally, that they will start wanting presents for doing things that actually take effort. And a lot of parents give into this due to the fact that they do not want to have to listen to a whiny child all day. Whether you think so or not, this is horrible for the kid, they get used to being babied and spoiled all the time and as they grow up, they expect to be praised and rewarded for every mediocre thing that they do, but that is just not realistic.

I’ve always thought that I would go with these hoaxes for the sake of my children “fitting in” and having a “normal” childhood. But now, I really don’t know. I understand that I have done nothing but harp on the downsides of going with these tricks, so I want to let you know that I am aware of the upsides. And after all, if done correctly, there isn’t really any harm in giving your children a little extra excitement for the holidays and big milestones. At the end of the day it is all about perspective and what you think is best for your kids and your own parenting style.