HW 3
Does the concept of Santa Clause and other holiday characters, help or hurt the psychological and emotional development of a child?
I find this question very interesting due to the fact that is based in multiple areas of study such as psychology, history, and ethics. Not only does it affect the psychological perspective of a childs thought process, it also has an extensive history behind it from the first St. Nicholas to the modern day Santa, lastly it has an ethical perspective to it. Is it right for parents to be teaching and encouraging their children to believe in a figure that does not exist. Is it right for children to grow up with a false sense of expectance around the holiday season? On the otherhand does it build christmas spirit and a spirit of joy and giving around Christmas? These are a few of the questions I would like to look into.
ProQuest Historicle Newspaper:
Above is an article written by a man named Samuel Green on the influence of Santa Claus on the child’s mind which I found to be very interesting and relevant to my research question.
Flickr Commons:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amazedmama/2102010220/
Above is an accurate and humorous depiction of a child sitting on a man dressed as Santa Claus’s lap. Santa Clause can in fact scare children to the point of tears.
Archive Finder:
Lastly, above is a collection of stories written by multiple well known writers on the story of the easter bunny dating back to the fifties. This collection is simply an example of how commonplace it has become to teach children (through books especially) the tales of creatures and people who don’t exist that have been created from adults imaginations.
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Excellent post. I’m going through many of these issues as well..