Santa Doesn't Exist: Robin Robinson And Other Modern Day Scrooges

The Huffington Post Canada   First Posted: 12/02/11 12:35 PM ET Updated: 12/02/11 12:37 PM ET

SPOILER ALERT: Don't show this to your kids.
Talk about crushing dreams.

FOX Chicago news anchor Robin Robinson was under fire earlier this week for saying Santa Claus doesn't exist.

Robinson made the remarks on the evening newscast. Around the 2:55 mark in the video shown above she says parents should stop trying to convince their kids that Santa is Santa and as soon kids are able to talk, they should be told the "truth."

"Santa is a symbol of the generosity of the season. You go sit on his lap and we'll take a picture," Robinson says to her co-anchor. "But he's not coming down the chimney, he's not eating those cookies, he's not bringing you anything."

"My jaw dropped when I heard her say there was no Santa," Annette Kennedy Muller wrote on Facebook while viewer Laura Gravgaard Vlaming says, "Robin, it's not your right to tell EVERYONE's kids this!"

Following the 9 p.m. broadcast, the station received several phone calls, emails and online comments from angry viewers. Robinson was forced to apologize but this time she warned kids to leave the room.

"It was careless and callous to say what I said," she says.

Story Continues Below: Robin Robinson apologizing on FOX Chicago news

Is Santa Real? FOX Chicago News Anchor Robin Robinson Apologizes For Saying He's Not: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

This isn't the first time adults have made the naughty list during the holidays. A second grade grade teacher In New York, was recently accused of being a real Scrooge after she told her students Santa Claus wasn't real. The teacher, who was covering the North Pole with her students, also said parents filled stockings instead of St. Nick.

In 2008, a primary school teacher in the U.K. was fired after telling her students Santa was a fake. The supply teacher blurted out, "It's your parents who leave out presents on Christmas Day," which left many students in tears.

Hey, it's not just the adults. The Gosselin kids from the now cancelled "Kate Plus 8," were accused of telling their 6-year-old classmates that Santa Claus was fake. Their representatives, however, denied the accusations.

But what should we be telling our kids?

Writer Marie Hartwell-Walker says there is a right time to slip in the truth.

"Somewhere around 6 or 7 or 8, your child poses that dreaded question. It can mark the end of a certain kind of innocence for the child and an end of a fun chapter of parenting for the adults."

She says considering the age and stage they're in will alter their reaction.

"Some kids respond to the news that Santa is a story with relief. They needed to have their perception of reality confirmed. Others respond with anger at their parents for having "lied" to them. They need help understanding that participating in a sweet story of childhood is not a fundamental betrayal of trust," she says.

How did you break the news about Santa to your kids? Let us know in the comments below.

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SPOILER ALERT: Don't show this to your kids. Talk about crushing dreams. FOX Chicago news anchor Robin Robinson was under fire earlier this week for saying Santa Claus doesn't exist. Robinso...
SPOILER ALERT: Don't show this to your kids. Talk about crushing dreams. FOX Chicago news anchor Robin Robinson was under fire earlier this week for saying Santa Claus doesn't exist. Robinso...
 
 
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07:44 AM on 12/25/2012
Personally, I am glad he did this because it's the truth! I just do not understand why parents think it's ok to LIE to their children and when someone tells the truth....there is a big problem with that! that's insane.
02:08 PM on 12/06/2011
I told my kids at a very early age, because I was sick of people using the old "Santa won't bring you anything if you don't behave" nonsense on them. Guess what? They didn't grow up and buy an automatic weapon to pick people off with, from a bell tower. They weren't even upset. They had fun after that, because every year, I had them start their list for me early, and they were allowed to put as many things as they wanted on it. Then, I would get what I could afford. And no matter how much parents try to pretty it up, lying is lying.
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brightalchemy
03:03 PM on 12/05/2011
Keep in mind people kids that grew up in apartments were crushed even at younger ages, realizing that no such thing as a jolly fat white man coming down a chimney which most apartments did not have anyway. So whether they are told at hoome or abroad who cares.
02:43 PM on 12/05/2011
Children should not be watching the news... PERIOD. It's all negative.
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b4pangea
Insert clever micro-bio here
07:49 PM on 12/04/2011
There is no such thing as Fox News.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
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jkkFL
Opinions are not Facts.
07:38 PM on 12/04/2011
It's a personal decision- like religion.
No one else has the right to tamper with that decision- particularly not the damn media.
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Adrienne Williams
Scifi Geek, Delirium Today, Enneagram Life
06:50 PM on 12/04/2011
LOL wow Robin my father use to say I think at 4-years old, There's no Santa, I got you all those gifts.
02:12 PM on 12/04/2011
It's really a matter of credibility. If you tell your children Santa exists, that's a lie. Life is very complicated and if you want your children to believe you on things that are hard for them to grasp, you need that credibility. Most Santa believers find out from their friends that Santa doesn't exist. It sets a massive foundation. Parents lie, peers give you the honest answer.

So when it comes time for parents to explain drugs, sex and other complicated issues, the credibility of the parents will be on the line. If the parents have been honest, they have a better chance of winning out. If it has been peers who have been right and not the parents...well parents you did it to yourself.
10:52 AM on 12/04/2011
I don't agree with her getting in trouble. My kids have know from day one, Mom brought the gifts. Why would like give credit to Santa? I went to work everyday to get the money. Robin keep doing what you are doing. People in the world tell their kids not to lie, however they tell their kids every year a fat guy in a red suit brought them gifts?????
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carmenalex
STR8 AGAINST H8
03:03 PM on 12/03/2011
I live in Puerto Rico, were houses have no chimney. I didn't believe the Santa story for long, because how on Earth was he going to get in the house without a chimney! Also, since here we celebrate Three Kings Day, were the 3 kings leaves presents under your bed if you leave a shoebox filled with grass for the camels, I was always freaked out. My mom and dad told me I would insist the shoebox with grass be placed under their bed, because I was afraid of the camels. I eventually grew out of it, was a bit upset and got over it. No big deal. if anything, its an important life lesson: Don't believe anything you hear. Its a milestone to growing up.
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ADRealist
High expectations are the key to everything.
02:39 PM on 12/03/2011
As a child I knew that Mickey Mouse was a fairy tale too. But it didn't keep me from enjoying it.
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ADRealist
High expectations are the key to everything.
02:34 PM on 12/03/2011
Your man made god doesn't exist, nor does it's proclaimed place of torture and punishment for disbelieving - Dashing adult fantasies in wake of humanism since 500BCE.
09:01 AM on 12/04/2011
If you are doubting why don't you ask God to reveal himself to you if he is real or not? What is it going to hurt if it isn't true. Be prepared though! And by the way Scientists used to claim the earth was flat but people put their faith in them.
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ADRealist
High expectations are the key to everything.
03:01 PM on 12/04/2011
Why don't you ask the magical pink unicorn living under my bed if he is real or not. The burden of proof of your God isn't on me. And which God exactly? The God of the Christian Bible isn't even the oldest one.

And it was Religious Clergy who claimed the Earth was flat and a scientist who discovered otherwise but he had to keep it private for over 200 years otherwise he may be burned alive at the stake under the pretenses of being sent to "Hell", that place of torment that you religious types are so sure that everyone who disagrees with you will be sent too.
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transe
and in the end,,,the love you take is equal to the
01:44 PM on 12/03/2011
people need to lighten up. what's wrong with believing in something harmless for a little while? we have all of our adult lives to learn that life is hard, no man in a red suit is going to give us a present, and mom and dad have to buy gifts. let a little kid have something fun to believe in.
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transe
and in the end,,,the love you take is equal to the
01:40 PM on 12/03/2011
i look at it this way, if your kids ask you a question, they are old enough to know the answer. when my then 7 year old told me he knew santa was not real, i confirmed the story and told him that if he told his then 4 year old brother, it was going to be on. and when his brother was about 6, he found santa's stash of presents in the closet. i tried to tell him, that santa was just storing them in the closet, i admit i panicked, but he didn't buy it. now they are 16 and 13, and aren't warped or serial killers in training, because i told them about santa.
01:15 PM on 12/03/2011
Fox News has a new war on Christmas