OMG I was just ranting about this in a discussion group about Anansi Boys! You've covered many of my points. A few others:
--it's okay to lie to your children but not okay for them to lie to you? Do as I say, not as I do? I'm not okay with that. --isn't a big part of the debate about violent video games a concern that children have trouble distinguishing appropriate action in the game from appropriate action in reality, thus leading to more violence? Similarly, aren't we worried about children thinking that commercials are real and being unduly influenced by them? Isn't this contrary to those concerns? --don't parents want children to trust them? This seems designed to detroy that trust. I remember wondering what else my parents had lied about. --I think you can still allow children to have active imaginations while teaching them the difference between fiction and reality. When I was a kid, I had an imaginary idea in which trees had minds and were happy when they got chopped down and made into chairs because they were then serving a purpose. I knew it wasn't objectively real, but that didn't prevent me from enjoying it as a subjective reality. I think the same can be true of something like Santa - children can enjoy it as a story while still helping their parents wrap gifts "from Santa" to poor children or whatever.
AGREED
--it's okay to lie to your children but not okay for them to lie to you? Do as I say, not as I do? I'm not okay with that.
--isn't a big part of the debate about violent video games a concern that children have trouble distinguishing appropriate action in the game from appropriate action in reality, thus leading to more violence? Similarly, aren't we worried about children thinking that commercials are real and being unduly influenced by them? Isn't this contrary to those concerns?
--don't parents want children to trust them? This seems designed to detroy that trust. I remember wondering what else my parents had lied about.
--I think you can still allow children to have active imaginations while teaching them the difference between fiction and reality. When I was a kid, I had an imaginary idea in which trees had minds and were happy when they got chopped down and made into chairs because they were then serving a purpose. I knew it wasn't objectively real, but that didn't prevent me from enjoying it as a subjective reality. I think the same can be true of something like Santa - children can enjoy it as a story while still helping their parents wrap gifts "from Santa" to poor children or whatever.