An intense outrage erupted in Rockland County, New York. A second-grade schoolteacher had the audacity to “ruin” Christmas for her students. In a lesson about the North Pole, she told her students that there was no Santa Claus! She even shocked her 7 and 8 year-old students with the information that the gifts under the Christmas tree and in the Christmas stockings were put there by their own parents. What blasphemy!
One reporter described the violator a “sourpuss teacher” who was worse than the Grinch. The reaction of the community to what another reporter called “stunning behavior” was unmistakable. In the words of the reporter, “angry parents would like to see the teacher roasted like a chestnut over an open fire.”
Consider the following comments:
“If her brothers told her [there was no Santa], they would be punished. So I can’t imagine what should happen to the teacher.”
“I think this is awful. If it happened to my granddaughter, I’d tell her her teacher made a mistake, and there is a Santa,”
“I do feel it is unfortunate that this teacher has lost the spirit of Christmas in her heart. It is important to keep that spirit alive so that Santa can be real for everyone.”
“It’s outrageous that a teacher would strip a child of their innocence and try and demystify something.”
How could the teacher do away with such a beloved person? Isn’t Christmas all about Santa Claus? Isn’t he the reason there is Christmas? Isn’t he the embodiment of what the true meaning and the spirit of Christmas is? He should be preached and defended by every good citizen.
Or perhaps not. Go figure!
–Keith Y. Jainga