Why You Should Tell Your Children that Santa Claus is Real

As usual for the time of year, blogs (e.g., Daily Dish) are full of stories about the moment when people stopped believing in Santa. There is also a great deal of debate about whether it is right to tell your children that Santa exists.

Let me make it simple for those of you on the fence. You absolutely, positively should tell your children that Santa is real, for a very simple reason: If you don’t lie to your children, they will be completely unprepared for how elected officials treat them when they grow up. What parent wants that on their conscience?

Merry Christmas everyone!

Author: Keith Humphreys

Keith Humphreys is the Esther Ting Memorial Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University and an Honorary Professor of Psychiatry at Kings College London. His research, teaching and writing have focused on addictive disorders, self-help organizations (e.g., breast cancer support groups, Alcoholics Anonymous), evaluation research methods, and public policy related to health care, mental illness, veterans, drugs, crime and correctional systems. Professor Humphreys' over 300 scholarly articles, monographs and books have been cited over thirteen thousand times by scientific colleagues. He is a regular contributor to Washington Post and has also written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Monthly, San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian (UK), The Telegraph (UK), Times Higher Education (UK), Crossbow (UK) and other media outlets.