The concept of Santa always annoyed me. I remember in first grade a classmate announced that Santa had landed on his roof last night. I told him he was probably dreaming and that Santa wasn't real. (I was a very rational six year old!)

I have always been an extremely imaginative, fantasy-oriented person, but even as a child I knew the difference between fiction and fact. It is essential to child development to keep the line thick, or else we end up growing up in a world where "anything magical is possible", leading to irrational thoughts, behavior and a clouded view of reality.

So I don't denounce fantasy, imaginary play or pretend; they are actually very healthy and stimulating for the mind.  However, parents MUST make sure the child understands the games they play are NOT reality, and clarify if there is confusion. Telling lies to your child not only puts a lack of trust on you but disallows them to trust people they care for. If you can't trust your own parents or those you love, who can you trust?

Ever watched a horror movie that kept you up at night? Children often experience this, as they have a hard time putting their imaginations at rest. The only cure for night terrors is learning they aren't real. Yet if a parent tells the child their irrational fears are real, what will become of the child's mind? This reminds me of Santa Claus in a sense.

Telling children there is a Santa also contains a strange concept behind it: that our behaviors are in constant criticism by an all-knowing authority. This is creepy in itself. Isn't the Santa myth a result of a time period ripe with odd and arguably abusive child-rearing techniques (scare tactics, horror stories)? After all, it's message to be good and be rewarded or bad and be excluded is meant to instill a sense of paranoia about behavior.  It disallows critical thinking of a child's own behavior, which is essential to becoming a good person. "If you do that again, Santa won't bring you presents this year" can not only make a child overly self-critical, confused and upset, but may even translate to "If you're bad, I won't love you" when the child finally realizes that Santa is indeed their own parents.

If we are simply punished for our actions, we can't learn from them. If we are simply told to be "good", we end up confused about ourselves and often ashamed for normal feelings (such as anger at an annoying sibling).

Even as a child, I never liked authoritarians. I become highly irritated when people ignored my explanations for behavior and simply marked me as "Good" or "Bad". There was no room for thought, questioning or understanding. Luckily, my parents are open-minded free-thinkers, unlike the moronic daycare employees I had to endure without the ability to defend myself.

I strongly agree with Sapient on his child care tactic of learning, questioning and honesty. Obviously I'm not blaming Santa Claus directly for anything, but I am drawing a parallel that has been bothering me for years.