Is it cruel for a parent to tell a 10 year old child that Santa doesn't exist?

If you had a 10 year old daughter who was going to senior school next September and she still believed in Santa (and you thought her friends did too), do you think that if after Christmas you told your 10 year old that Santa doesn't exist - do you think that would be cruel and completely unnecessary?Is it cruel for a parent to tell a 10 year old child that Santa doesn't exist?
Not really. It's the parents responsibility to tell them or not.





Good luck and i hope this helps.Is it cruel for a parent to tell a 10 year old child that Santa doesn't exist?
I think I would rather tell her than have her friends tell her...kids are cruel and would most likely not be as tactful as I would be.
The parent absolutely shouldn't. I think it's wrong for any adult to outright tell a child that Santa Claus doesn't exist, it's like they made a world of fantasy for the child only to make them feel silly that they've fallen for it.





However, my views may be shaped by bitterness about when I found out - I was 7 years old, in a school assembly, and a visiting Rector was talking about Christmas when he said ';because we all know Father Christmas isn't real';. I was so shocked and upset it physically hurt, I still remember it now. I imagine hearing it in such an off-hand way from any adult would have felt the same, and that felt cruel (and was definitely unneccessary!).





I don't think it's so unlikely that a 10 year old would still believe, my cousin believed last year at 10 but doesn't this year at 11, and my little brother was about the same (despite my horrible clues because I was jealous that he still believed and I couldn 't). Personally I think the best way for a child to learn about it is from their peers, it's then an exciting secret and teaches them the social bonds (i.e. they were smart enough to work it out with a grown up, they know something without the adults knowing they do, etc) that will do them well through their secondary school life.





Sadly (and this isn't a criticism of you, Question poser), I think the way many kids learn about it now is over the internet or in news debates about when they should find out etc.





By the way, I'm 23 with siblings aged 20 and 27, and we will still all be receiving stockings this year (my parents tried to stop it when the youngest was 18, but we weren't having it).
i strongly disagree with the majority here. i think it's pretty cruel to set a 10-year-old up for massive teasing from her peers when she's the only one who still believes in Santa.





Instead of telling her Santa doesn't exist, tell her that no one person is really Santa ... that everyone who does something nice for someone else around Christmas is really Sant, so we all get to be Santa for each other.
lm 37 and lm telling you he does exist!
In my opinion, the unnecessary part is telling them Santa is real in the first place. Why can't you just tell them the story without pretending it's literal?





A ten year old who still believes in Santa obviously has a deep trust for what her parents/teachers etc tell them. That's pretty sad, considering it's not true.
I trust that all you guys and dolls out there who think its wrong to let children believe that Santa exists,( or any other fairy tale,) dont watch soap operas or James Bond movies.


Get my gist?.
personally I was grateful when my mom admitted to me that there was no santa.. I was pestering her a lot about it because I was really having doubts about whether or not there was a santa.. so I'd say if your daughter is starting to express doubts about santa's existence, you should go ahead and tell her.. but if she doesn't say anything you shouldn't press the issue.. it could be she already knows and just doesn't want to tell you she knows..
i wouldnt tell her until she asked. It wont be that long before she does, most kids work it out a lot sooner though but what is wrong with believing kids grow up too soon as it is
I wouldn't tell her.


I have 4 boys, ranging from 9-16, and the eldest 3 (10,11, and 16) are all believe there is no such thing as Santa. The funny thing is they all came to this conclusion about 9 years of age but played it off that they still believed in Santa. The reason I was given each time was,';If I told you I didn't believe I would get less gifts.';


Kids come to their own conclusions on this matter in their own times.
My daughter is only 4 so she does believe in Father Christmas as she does in dinosaurs and magic worlds.. this is all part of her imagination and all stories about Christmas started with some truth in there somewhere.. Father Christmas may have gone long ago but he still lives within all of us and we carry on this tradition which is celebrated as a happy moment in our lives.


My daughter will be the eldest as was I am when I found out from friends I ask my Mum who answered honestly, even so I still kept some belief for my sisters and also to carry on the Christmas routine.





:)
No, it's usual that children are told when they leave P7 as they could be teased or bullied for not knowing this in secondary or grammar school.


I was sent to school a year early therefore was a full year younger than my classmates %26amp; i was told for definate b4 i left P7 although i was barely 10 at the time.


We're all told around this age %26amp; unfortunately it is necessary.


It's usually better if they find out themselves %26amp; older siblings usually contribute to this.
there is a santa, he's everywhere, on cards, posters, films and television. don't spoil the magic. i have teenage sons and i wish they still had that innocence. once those years are gone you can't get them back x
I think it is nice for them to believe in Santa. They will learn themselves that he does not exist. Let them believe I say
I think it is immoral to deceive children.





Children should be taught things that are true.
Well it would be a case of tell her yourself or let her be teased, taunted and bullied at school about it. Can you imagine the stick she would get throughout her school life that a coming of age girl believed in a fairytale in which it could scar her mentally more than not telling her the truth. I would tell her at the earliest oppertunity, but saying that I would be concerned if my child believed in Santy Claus at that age.





I was never told that Santy was ';real'; or not, but if I had been led on to believe he was real then I found out one way or another that it was all a lie regardless of the ';magic'; garbage people are spouting on here, I would feel more dissapointed and let down at being lied to for all those years.





I have decided to tell my child that he (Santa) is not real when she is about 6 or 7 or thereabouts. I hate lies and Santa Claus is the biggest lie ever told.
I have 4 children and I have never told any of them that there isn't a father Christmas. The ages are 10, 12, 16 and 23. My eldest believed until he was maybe 13 but carried on believing for the his younger brothers.





My 10yr old still believes and when he asks if there is a father Christmas I tell him the story of Rudolf making an emergency stop on my roof and put a big hole in my roof. The story is partly true except the wind took a load of tiles off as it was a very stormy Christmas eve and I was woken by rain dripping on me.





My eldest son also tells his brothers that it's true. He also tells them to be good. This story will run for years and its one to tell my grandchildren when I have them.





It's a shame that people feel the need to tell children there isn't a Santa!!!!!
Let them work it out for themselves.
I have an 11 yr old Son who still believes in santa claus......i say let children have a childhood why take away that magic?
Yes it is, but then it is more cruel and unnescessary to tell a child Santa does exist.
I personally believe, if children want to believe in santa, let them. It's all part of the magic of christmas. In time themselves they will learn to know he doesnt exist, why tell them and ruin christmas.
I don't think it's cruel. I really think it's just up to the parents of the child. I stopped believing [or maybe started questioning] Santa when I was around that age but I still believe in the spirit of Santa ten years later with children of my own.
Is there any harm in believing in a being you can't see or have any evidence of? Millions of religious people would say no, it's down to faith.





There are lots of artifacts associated with religion and in a similar way, we create and give gifts on Santa's behalf.





So let children decide whether they want to believe or not. And adults' too for that matter!
My 8 year boy once asked if Santa was real or not. He had been discussing the matter with his friends - some of whom were of the clear opinion that Santa did not exist. I told him that if Santa did not exist, he could not expect to get any presents from Santa. He thought about it for a second or two and announced that he thought Santa was real.
Usually at 10 kids know santa isnt real.
Of course he exists! I still believe in him!
Is it cruel for a parent to tell a 10 year old child that God doesn't exist ?





I was Lucky , my parents never deceived me with Fairy Tales like Santa , The Tooth Fairy , God and Leprechauns. You should avoid lying to children about the world whenever possible.





Once you start lying you end up telling bigger and bigger lies to cover up your 1st lie , it's never a good idea to lie.
Let her friends tell her, mine did, I was the same age.
Hi,let her find out for herself.Your only young once.
YES VERY CRUEL
no need to tell all things at early age,they will learn eventually.let them be in a world of fantasies and stories till then