Whether or not you agree with it, many parents see no harm in allowing their kids to believe in Santa. In fact, they encourage it as a way to allow their children’s imagination to flourish and to give them the unique opportunity to be able to believe in magic even for a little while. That’s why many parents are criticizing Google, claiming that the tech giant is going to ruin Christmas for everyone if they don’t change the top answer to one very important question.
“Is Santa real?”
Googling this question brings up some seemingly innocuous results. The top one at the moment is the Santa Claus Wikipedia page, which talks about how the modern Santa is “based on folklore traditions surrounding Saint Nicholas.”
A second answer under the “People also ask” header says that Santa was real in a sense since Saint Nicholas, the actual person he was based on, did exist.
In other words, there are no glaringly offensive results that outright say Santa is a made-up character and a way for parents to convince their kids that some bearded guy flies around the world visiting the households of every single child (even the bad ones, though they only get coal, natch). At least not high up on the page.
One site does actually break the news.
Google
If you scroll roughly halfway down the first page of Google’s results for the question “Is Santa real?,” you’ll come across a Reader’s Digest article that states, “For many kids, their friends or siblings will break the news to them that Santa isn’t real.” Oh no!
You don’t even have to click into the article to find this out, either — the text appears as the excerpt right there on the Google homepage.
Many parents have expressed their dismay, begging Google to change its search results so that kids don’t accidentally have their Christmas dreams shattered. However, it’s doubtful that will happen.
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If a child is old enough to be Googling this question, maybe they’re old enough to know the truth?
Generally speaking, most young kids are using the internet to play games and use educational apps (at least if their parents are careful). If a child is old enough to start asking questions about Santa, maybe it’s not such a bad thing that they know the reality.
“Children’s belief in Santa starts when they’re between 3 and 4 years old. It’s very strong when they’re between about 4 and 8,” explains Thalia Goldstein, an assistant professor of applied developmental psychology, in an interview with CNN.
“Then, at 8 years old is when we start to see the drop-off in belief, when children start to understand the reality of Santa Claus.”
I can’t remember how old I was when I realized Santa wasn’t real, but it was probably around that age. I also don’t remember it being some hugely traumatic thing, to be honest. It just sorta… was. I think by that point, I’d already had an inkling that was the case because my mom wasn’t all that slick.
In other words, there was no real harm done. Better than having some pastor dress up as the Grinch and tell kids that Santa is fake!
