From the night of December 24^th, there is a belief that keeps children from falling asleep and brings happiness on the morning of the 25^th: Santa. Children worry whether Santa will be able to come into the house, and constantly imagine what gifts he will bring. But as we all know, Santa exists only in our imaginations. Although looking at young children being excited even makes us happy, we must not leave them as victims of lies any longer. So, adults need to let preschoolers realize that Santa doesn't exist.                                                                       

          First, it is necessary to reduce children's feelings of betrayal toward adults in advance. For a child, the shock of learning that Santa does not exist, whom he/she has believed in their whole lives, is very huge. The shock leads to a feeling of betrayal, and the target is adults who told about Santa. In fact, adults often lie to children, and most of them realize this as they grow up. Children who grew up believing “You will get a girlfriend/boyfriend when you go to college.” or “You can become taller if you drink milk.” are often frustrated when they realize that there are always exceptions. We don't even need to add Santa here. Also, when children enter school and meet friends who already know that Santa is fiction, they naturally learn the truth. As the shock can become worse when they realize the truth from friends rather than the adults who lied, we must prevent this. Second, Santa increases the labor of parents. The reason we were able to believe in Santa as a child was because our parents worked so hard to figure out the gifts we wanted, buy them secretly, wrap them, and then finally keep them hidden. Also, parents have to answer numerous questions about Santa from kids all year. Even with this hard work, it is not to parents whom children feel grateful, but the fake Santa. Third, Santa is just a tool that adults have created to easily discipline children. Think back to your childhood. Most of you might have heard “You have to act kindly to receive a gift from Santa Claus”, "Stop crying. If you cry, Santa Claus won't give you a present," when someone scolded you. However, this cannot be a fundamental way to correct the wrong behavior of children since they change their behavior just to receive a gift from Santa, rather than recognizing their mistake. So, telling children early that there is no Santa is more effective for them correcting mistakes and making developments.

                  Children can fully make Christmas memories with family and friends without Santa. Although some say believing in Santa symbolizes childhood, children are pure and lovely beings in themselves, even after they realize Santa is fake. Therefore, we should tell preschoolers that there is no Santa. Only then, the feeling of betrayal they would feel as well as the burdens of parents can be reduced, and children can correct their mistakes more effectively.