Dear Editor,

In KN of December 7, a columnist wrote a response to the letter I wrote in last Wednesday’s SN entitled, ‘Why are adults lying to their children about Santa Claus?’ Firstly, let me say I have a great deal of respect for this journalist as one of Guyana’s leading media personnel. I was surprised to see him responding to me outside of the newspaper that published the letter.

Let me tell you that my childhood was wonderful. I had both parents there for me and
they worked hard to provide for me. Is a belief in Santa Claus (SC) a requisite for a happy childhood? So what about all those groups that do not celebrate Christmas? Are you saying that all these people had miserable childhoods?

He says that I couldn’t possibly be an educator. What kind of educator are you? The education that I give aims to free my students, just as my teachers continually encourage me to think for myself. I don’t believe that by telling students to look for happiness in the form of a chubby Caucasian man coming in the clouds, would break those mental chains. As Bob Marley said: “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery.”

If believing in Santa Claus would somehow lead to the creation of an ‘A’ student, then something must be wrong. How long have Guyanese children believed in SC? How are they doing at the CXC now? What is the functional literacy rate? Surely if this theory has any bit of reality in it, Guyana should be a nation of geniuses, wise men, doctors and PhDs by now.

Here is a newsflash: children do not require help from adults to facilitate a fantasy. Their beautiful minds allow them to do it on their own. Their minds allow them to dream and escape into a fantasy world. However, this SC issue is more than just a fantasy. We see advertisements encouraging children write to him. Children thank him for providing gifts for them. Do children write letters to Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty or Red Riding Hood? Do children look out for them to come at night? Clearly, this SC is not in the realm of these other childhood characters.

This SC has been given ‘God’ status. When the rejection of SC can lead to a teacher losing his job, we can say SC has been made powerful. If that teacher in Australia had told his class that Red Riding Hood is just fiction, would he have lost his job?

Further, I believe in sticking to the point; my letter was not about a religion, Barney or Pokemon. If you have issues with those topics you are free to write about them. To be honest, I think it’s a sad situation when a journalist is asking to be fooled. If media people become gullible what kind of news would we get? Okay Sir, if you really want someone to fool you let me try: hydrogenated vegetable oils are good for the body; weapons of mass destruction are in Iraq; and yesterday I saw the Easter Bunny and Frostee the Snowman in a taxi… Fooled yet?

Just think about it.

Yours faithfully,
Montgomery Chester