If You’re a Parent of Kid Believers, Don’t Let Them Google ‘Is Santa Real?’

Parents want Google to change their search results to avoid ruining the magic for tech-savvy kids.

Dalibor Despotovic / Getty Images

Fact checked by Sarah Scott

For many families, Santa is one of the most magical parts of the holiday season. For as long as I can remember, parents have shared with their children the magic of Christmas, Santa, the North Pole, and Santa’s workshop.

But this younger generation of kids is constantly proving that they are more and more curious. They obviously have a ton more resources than we did at their age and they are not afraid of asking the hard questions that we parents don’t always want to answer. So how do we keep the magic of Christmas alive when children have such open access to technology?

Parents took to the internet early last week to express their frustration with Google’s answers to “Is Santa real?” It’s not surprising that in December, this is such a popular Google search.

In fact, my 9-year-old son was on his daily group Facetime with his friends over their Thanksgiving break when one of his classmates Googled the very same thing. They then read the answer out loud sharing it with the entire call of about six kids.

Up until a few days ago when you Googled “Is Santa real” the answer that came up was ruffling the feathers of parents who are raising little believers.

An excerpt from Hotel Chocolat in 2020 is the snippet in particular that sent the internet into a tizzy over the last few days. It was the first answer that came up when googling the question and didn’t even require clicking to read the answer. It was also the answer that my son and his friends read to each other over the phone.

“Whilst there is no man in the sky riding a sleigh pulled by reindeer, Santa Claus isn’t a completely made-up person—the inspiration behind this festive fellow stemmed from a monk, named Saint Nick, who was revered for his untold generosity and selflessness” the excerpt read. Straight, to the point, and no beating around the bush.

Now when you Google the top excerpt has changed a bit. The snippet from Parade now reads, “According to historical records, Santa is real. Santa is real in the sense that he was an actual person. Otherwise known as Saint Nicholas, his story goes all the way back to the 3rd century. He was a monk who was born in 280 A.D. in modern-day Turkey.”

But the first question that shows immediately after that in the ‘People Also Ask’ section is ‘Is Santa Real or Is It Your Parents?’

Chances are if your little one is old enough to get on Google, type in the search bar, and then read excerpts to answer their curiosity about the man in red then they’re old enough to ask you as well.

But the real question that all this hubbub really poses is, should we be leaving it up to technology to preserve the magic of Christmas? When my 9-year-old came up to me and showed me what his friends had read to him he simply stated that they were wrong, and I agreed.

We’ve already talked about not believing everything that you see on the internet. He’s an extremely intelligent and emotionally mature child and he decided for himself that he wanted to hold on to the magic a little bit longer. I had absolutely no problem with helping him preserve his beliefs.

My 6-year-old was also in the room when the Santa conversation was occurring and his response was plain and simple. “You guys are crazy, Santa is real and it won’t be my fault if you get coal for Christmas.”

He furthered my belief that secondborns are the most strong-willed children. We of course have had many conversations on people having different beliefs. When it comes to the holidays they know that not everyone celebrates Christmas and what other people choose to do in their home has no impact on what we do in ours.

Google in no way ruined the magic of Christmas for us but I can definitely understand the frustration in the air. Curiosity at that age is perfectly normal. We have the simple responsibility to our children as their parents to fuel their curiosity, set boundaries, and build trust within them.

Eventually, we’re going to all have to have the Santa talk. It would just help a TON if Google didn’t rush things along. And if your kids are anything like mine then you can tell them to ask Siri or Alexa—those answers are WAY more fun! Go ahead … try it!

Related: Parents Are Raising Kids In No-Santa Households, Striking A Nerve on TikTok

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