The persona of Santa Claus has been described for generations as that of a jolly old man who has arguably become one of the most iconic faces of Christmas, but as time goes on it is clear that more and more children are questioning Santa’s validity. It can be hard to know when is a good time to tell kids that Santa isn’t real.

Santa Claus was originally based upon the Christian figure of Saint Nicholas, a patron saint of children, while today Santa Claus is entirely secular. With Santa being secular it opens up the doors for multiple cultures to believe in him whereas Saint Nicholas was primarily a Christian figure.

“Santa Claus is one of the few remaining parts of childhood that our so-called ‘enlightened’ society has not yet managed to completely eliminate,” Lisa Warren stated in the article, “Should we encourage our children to believe in Santa Claus?”

Sophomore Sara Vickerman said, “Children are raised to believe in Santa, it’s hope for children to hang on to.”

It is clear that the older children get, the more their views on Santa in general change. “I think Santa is jolly and nice. He spreads Christmas spirit and gives presents to children. He is magical too!” said Christian Kavanagh, a first grader at Schumann Elementary School. Braden Kavanagh, a third grader at Orono Intermediate School, stated, “Santa is a fat guy who eats cookies and gives presents.”

Kim Kavanagh, the mother of Christian and Braden, believes it is important for children to believe in Santa, “I tell my children, if you don’t believe, you don’t receive” she stated, “every year we eat breakfast with Santa and include him in our festivities.”

In the article, “Why do we believe in Santa?” Serge Larivee explains, “In 1896, 54 percent of parents said they perpetuated the myth of Santa since it made their children happy; compared with 73 percent in 1979 and 80 percent in 2000.” As time goes on it seems that parents are keeping the legend of Santa alive.

During the holiday season, malls hire Santa Claus to entertain children and their families. Christian stated, “Mall Santas are NOT real! They have fake beards!” Braden added, “Santa has no time to come to the malls during Christmas.”

Willy Hemmeke, another third grader at Orono Intermediate School, said, “there are a whole bunch of mall Santas.” Although they believe in the “real” Santa, children do realize when they are being taken to a Santa impersonator.

Although the views on whether or not Santa is real vary, the characteristics that people describe him with are all positive. Willy described Santa as a “generous man for giving kids presents.”

“Santa brings happiness to everyone during Christmas,” Vickerman stated.

In the article, “Should we encourage our children to believe in Santa Claus,” Cynthia Harlan said, “The anticipation of Santa’s coming not only increases the child’s excitement and pleasure Christmas morning, it also increases the parents excitement and anticipation of seeing their children’s faces light up.” Believing in Santa simply makes the holidays more exciting.

McKenna Balzer is a Copy Chief for The Spartan Speaks