Santa Claus, that jolly elf, sparks a lot of controversy when families who celebrate Christmas must decide whether to encourage their children to believe in him. Some people are rigidly against having children believe in Santa Claus, while others feel it wouldn’t be the same without children thinking Santa Claus will visit them on Christmas Eve. Many parents try to walk a middle line between belief in possibilities and consideration of realities.

People who do want their children to believe in Santa Claus generally cite two reasons. They may not want this Christian holiday dominated by belief in a pagan symbol. They also may want to emphasize that Santa often steals the thunder of the birth of Christ, and takes away from the true meaning of Christmas.

Other families are opposed to encouraging kids to believe in Santa Claus because they feel this is an outright lie to children. They feel they break their children’s trust by telling them a lie that sooner or later will be discovered by the kids. They may remember the disappointment of finding out that Santa didn’t exist when they were kids and do not wish to inflict the same disappointment on their own children.

Some parents, on the other hand, argue that not believing in Santa Claus steals away some of the magic of Christmas. From a Christian perspective they may argue that Santa Claus is symbolic of the “giving’ spirit of Christmas and thus related to Christ. They find no harm in telling children this, and encouraging belief, because childhood is the only place where such belief can occur.

Parents who encourage belief in Santa Claus may have a specific ritual for telling children about Christmas, or they may leave it up to children to find out on their own. However, when children do find out, parents should be aware that this could be a cause for grief in children. They may want to tell kids themselves, and make them part of the Christmas spirit too, part of Santa Claus’ spirit, by having them help put out gifts.

Families may walk a middle line between belief and nonbelief. They may teach that Santa Claus is a symbol of giving, and that believing in that symbol is wonderful. Christian parents may also emphasize that Santa Claus is a symbol while Christ is a reality. Thinking about Santa Claus may then take on a quality of all the family pretending and imagining together.

When children give gifts, they are playing Santa Claus, in the middle road approach. Thus one can encourage children to be part of this great and wonderful symbol of generosity and miracles. Children tend to work out how presents arrive in a few years anyway, but belief in the symbol, some parents feel, can last a lifetime.

There is no one right way to answer whether parents should encourage belief in Santa Claus. Parents should judge by what they think most right for their families. If they do decide to go the nonbelief route, or when they disillusion children about the reality of Santa, it’s important for children to realize that not everyone believes the same way. In fact it can be somewhat mean for children to tell other children Santa doesn’t exist. So children who don’t believe, should be encouraged not to spoil it for the believers.