News anchor forced to apologize for saying Santa isn't real on the air
By Virginia SmithDecember 3rd, 2011, 1:30 pmComments (17)Everyone knows that the fastest route to becoming universally hated is to challenge Santa Claus in any way. It just isn't done. Apparently, no one told this to Fox Chicago news anchor Robin Robinson, who was forced to apologize profusely on-air after a rant in which she said children should be told there's no Santa "as soon as they can talk." She continued, "He's not coming down the chimney, he's not eating those cookies, he's not bringing you anything!"
Naturally, parents that were watching the broadcast didn't take kindly to Robinson ruining Christmas for their kids, and flooded the station with angry letters and Facebook posts. Thus, the above clip in which Robinson basically prostrates herself for their forgiveness, taking to the streets to apologize to the public, and agreeing to watch a slough of Christmas movies as part of the re-education process.
“It was careless and callous to say what I said in what could have been mixed company,” she says in the segment. “So many kids don’t get to be children that for those who can live the wonder and magic of Christmas, I would never spoil it intentionally. I sincerely apologize.”
Glad to see that both hard news reporting and the spirit of Christmas are alive and well.
Commentarium (17 Comments)
There's no santa?
There was, but he died for our sins.
I grew up Jewish, so Santa was never an issue in our house, but I've always wondered about the effect of telling little children that Santa was real. At some point, you find out that your parents have been lying to you about a really central and fundamental thing about one of the most important holidays of the year. How could you ever trust them again? I mean, if someone lies to you about Santa, they'd lie to you about*anything.*
I actually think it could impart some useful lessons. Even people who love you and have your best interests at heart won't always be honest with you, let alone people who don't care about you as much, e.g. classmates, coworkers, even friends and lovers. I think most parents do the whole Santa thing to bring their kids joy... just because someone is well-intentioned doesn't mean he is telling the truth (sometimes just the opposite, as adults know). I think it can also be an exercise in logic and critical thinking. As kids get older, they start to think about the logistics of Santa (e.g. how can he go around the whole world in one night? how does he carry all those toys? etc.), and usually come to their own conclusions about Santa's existence at some point. I'm kind of surprised that whole parable doesn't translate to matters of religion more often. I think it could have implications for blind faith in terms of politics, religion, advertising, and more. Maybe just a matter of parents discussing with their children from this angle in an age-appropriate way? I don't know.
+1 for Dea. Parents lying to their kids is completely normal and reasonable; part of growing up is understanding those lies and the reasons that they are told. We lie to our kids so as to not expose them to uncomfortable truths at too early an age.
There's an excellent article by Paul Graham on just that subject - https://www.paulgraham.com/lies.html - it's worth checking out if you have the time.
I skimmed the article, which (though long) is interesting. I think there is a difference between the author's examples and Santa Claus. The former involves providing information at an age-appropriate level. The guide is what they ask. You tell them something true, but simple, and when they want more information, they'll ask for it. My three-year-old knows he was born after being in Mommy's tummy; he hasn't asked yet how he got in there in the first place, and until he does, I don't need load him down with sperm and egg and so on. I don't see that as lying; I see it as giving him the truth in a way he can understand it. Santa is different. It's just an outright falsehood generated by the parent. It's not designed to protect the child from anything (e.g., "Yes, Rover's living on a farm upstate where he can run and play in the fields every day!" -- which, BTW, though I understand, I wouldn't tell to my kid; if a pet dies, it's a useful introduction to the concept. I suspect that topic will come up when he starts asking more about his late grandfathers.) The Santa myth -- which is fine if it's presented as pretend, as imagination and play are all good things -- if presented as truth seems so pointlessly destructive to me.
My world was completely shattered when I discovered Santa Claus was not real.. oh wait. I basically came to that conclusion and kept it quiet until my little sister was old enough. Then we moved on. It added a little something magic and special to the holiday season to believe in the Big Guy and I seriously fail to see how it would be destructive. You seem like a total Senor Crapapple, Profrobert.
If you're a kid who believes in Santa, genuinely, it's not magical; it's just the way the world works. The only people who find it "magical" are the adults/older kids who realize it isn't true. And it's great that you didn't give a shit when you found out... but I had a kid in my class break down crying, and plenty of others would put up a huge fight. I guess your first argument -- that the Santa moral is a good one, because it teaches kids that they shouldn't blindly trust their parents -- is reasonable, if a big dark; but your second, that you didn't care about Santa so why should anyone else, is just childish.
As I said at the outset, it's not my culture, wasn't my issue, and won't be my child's issue. I'm not hanging around playgrounds shouting, "Santa isn't real!" I'm posing a philosophical and practical child-rearing question (and my answer to it), but I don't presume to universalize my view or to impose it on others. What I can say from experience is that my son and I play pretend things all the time, and his (and my) enjoyment is in no way diminished by his knowing that it's pretend.
Children rely on their parents for everything they know about the world. That adults think it's cute to bullshit their kids because they'll believe it is gross. No idea how it became a cultural phenomenon that kids learning the truth about anything will ruin their innocence. And it's not just Santa, it's all sorts of shit: Santa, the tooth fairy, negative numbers.
And it's all about the parents. Kids don't give a shit who's giving them the presents as long as they turn up under the tree.
Negative numbers? Try to tell your kids that imaginary numbers exist :)
I'm all for Santa and the Tooth Fairy, but I'd definitely vote to get rid of negative and imaginary numbers :)
Headline: Fox anchor tells truth, forced to recant.
Didn't Captain Beefheart tell us "there ain't no Santa Claus on the evening stage?"
Well schitt, where's the outcry about pushing carp to kids about, well , a giant imaginary being who controls the universe.
Hell Santa's peanuts compared to that load of bovine excrement.
I see people have variously mentioned Santa, the tooth fairy, negative numbers & God as lies-to-the-unknowable made out to be real to children. Yet no-one has stated the biggest one of all... HAPPILY EVER AFTER. Pure & utter bollocks. There are no happy endings (esp. if you're not a subscriber to God, and in fact such a person might even assert God is the backstop for the H.E.A. lie in a world of biological death). It's so funny to read time and again Hollywood moguls demanding changes in scripts because the ending aint happy, 'cause even adults can't handle facing up to this truth on a regular basis. Life is short, brutal (continually on the emotions/mind, if not always physically, but the latter really only usually applies to 1st World country citizens), and then you die. And being rich makes no difference (another lie, told more by consumerist society via advertisers than parents, for obvious reasons, but kids learn it anyway - Life is somehow plain sailing if you're rich).
H.E.A. is the biggest crock of shit floating down the turd highway that is life on the planet Dearth.