Interviewing 14 Grade 1 students about Santa Claus (Our People, page xx) was one of the most delightful experiences I’ve ever had.
Each of these budding six-year-olds was an enthusiastic participant. There was no reservation in sharing their thoughts on Santa.
But what became clear as I worked back through each set of interviews is the quality of the answers they gave. Yes, some are quite funny in a “kids say the darndest things” way, but almost none used the words “I don’t know.”
What shone through was their creativity and imagination. When faced with gaps in their knowledge of Santa, they used what they knew to fill in the blanks, whether it came from a movie about Santa or something someone else told them. Many divined their answers independent of any kind of influence. And some questioned their own responses immediately after speaking them. Take the question of whether or not Santa has parents – to many, Santa logically must have parents because everyone does.
There were disagreements as children stated their points of view, but the respect each accorded the other was remarkable. If students felt differently from what another had said, they simply stated their opinion without resorting to belittling the person with whom they disagreed. And the student who spoke first didn’t give it a second thought. There were no hurt feelings on either side and no condescending statements of “agreeing to disagree.” They simply accepted their peers could feel differently – there was none of the pathological need to be right that afflicts the rest of us.
But perhaps more humbling is this – when is the last time you spoke with 14 random people who all fervently believed in the same idea?
Santa is an enormous idea to these children. Yes he brings presents, but underpinning their answers are notions of hope, charity and fundamental goodness. They have poured more thought into Santa’s legacy than anything else because he matters so much to them. He is their celebrity – he is a bigger idea than anything else they know.
For children, there is no right or wrong when it comes to Santa, only good.
