Media Release
December 14 2007
When the secret about Santa is discovered
Young
children from all over the world believe in Santa Klaus, St Nick or
Father Christmas, just as they believe in the tooth fairy.
With Santa getting so much coverage in the media, and with reinforcement
from parents, children from a very young age believe in Father Christmas
and this belief remains intact for both boys and girls until about the
age of seven or eight, according to UniSA’s senior lecturer in
psychology and counselling,
Dr Nadine Pelling.
“Believing in Father Christmas lets children feel that there is a really
good, generous and loving person out there,” Dr Pelling said.
“But when children start to realise, understand and discover that Father
Christmas is not real, they are rather proud about their discovery –
that they’ve unlocked a big secret. They think it’s pretty cool that
they’ve been able to figure this out,” Dr Pelling said.
“I always find it fascinating that it’s usually the parents who are sad,
not the kids, when this discovery is made. A lot of parents think that
their children are going to be devastated and so sad when their children
find out (and a few kids might feel sad), but it’s mostly the parents
who are sad because, for them Father Christmas is a licence for fantasy
and beautiful times with their children,” she said.
“If their parents believed in Santa past the age of 10 years, then their
children also are more likely to believe in Santa beyond the age of
eight years. And even when they know that he’s not real, most children
still find the ‘idea’ of Santa as something pleasing that helps them
enjoy Christmas.
“In parenting, we would suggest that once children make this discovery,
parents look at new ways of doing things at Christmas. Instead of
writing letters to Santa and sitting on Santa’s lap, maybe we could get
the children involved in wrapping presents for wishing trees that
support disadvantaged families, or singing Christmas carols and bringing
Christmas cheer to sick children and the elderly in hospitals and
nursing homes.”
Contact for interview
- Dr Nadine Pelling mobile 0402 598 580 email nadine.pelling@unisa.edu.au
Media contact
- Geraldine Hinter office (08) 8302 0963 mobile 0417 861832 email geraldine.hinter@unisa.edu.au