Show I. I WHY DOES SANTA PERSIST tightness Rightness of Belief in Him HimI I Is Subject of Eternal Debate I I I WHO CAN ANSWER the riddle TV Why Ty does Santa Claus Glaus persist Is Is good or bad for children to believe believe be be- lieve in him Teachers psychiatrists psychiatrists psychiatrists psychia psychia- and other specialists in human behavior at the juvenile level differ diller The Santa Claus Glaus myth has strong convictions in its favor and convictions just as strong opposing it Children whose very progressive progressive progressive pro pro- parents have explained to them that Santa Clans Claus is only a myth have not been easy to convince They fix their surprised surprised sur sur- parents with the coolest of condescending stares They dont don't agree with the psychiatrists psychiatrists psychia psychia- psychiatrists who say that a child who really believes In La Santa Claus has had his thinking ability Im Im- Im- Im paired Even grown grownups ups berate I the destroyers of the illusion 4 l' l Evidently Santa fills such a basic human need that its it's not safe to tell people that he is fantasy And its more dangerous to try to prove it Belief in Santa satisfied childrens children's need for love and security They keep this belief as long as they need it ft carrying their belief through various stages they stages they fear him trust him love him and then doubt him i I But they never completely doubt i him no matter how realistic they become and they remember with joy the days of their utter credulity Psychiatrists fear tear that letting the child become possessed with the myth tends to make the adult attempt to preserve the Infant pleasure subconsciously throughout through through- out life liCe and remain emotionally Immature And experts question whether children chil chU- dren should be taught to believe literally literally literally lit lit- something that is not literally literally literally liter liter- ally true One expert says There is no sound psychological ps reason that I know of ot for children not enjoying ying the Santa myth as long longas as they know that it is not true But if a child at 4 or 5 years of ot otage age can believe that one person can come down all the chimneys of the world in one night and can fly through the air with reindeer and anda a sleigh and necessarily a heavy load the childs child's whole relation with reality and whole ability to think clearly in terms of cause and effect have been seriously damaged or permanently destroyed He will have learned that to think in relation to the evidence of his own eyes leads only to confusion and fear |