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Parents have been urged to stop pretending Father Christmas is real in case the “lie” damages relations with their children. Making up stories about Santa risks destroying a child’s trust and is morally unbelievable, according to two experts.

Psychologist Professor Christopher Boyle and social scientist Dr. Kathy McKay also criticize the idea employed by parents—Santa Claus judges children to be nice or naughty. Writing in a well-known journal, they argue, “If they are capable of lying about something so special and magical, can they be relied upon to continue as the guardians of wisdom and truth?”

Defending the claims, Prof Boyle said, “The morality of making children believe in such myths has to be questioned. All children will eventually find out they’ve been consistently lied to for years, and this might make them wonder what other lies they’ve been told. Whether it’s right to make children believe in Father Christmas is an interesting question, and it’s also interesting to ask whether lying in this way will affect children in ways that have not been considered.”

Dr. McKay, from the University of New England in Australia, said there was clear evidence from the world of make-believe in movies and TV that adults looked for a chance to be children again. “The persistence of fandom(影迷) in stories like Harry Potter and Star Wars indicates their desire to briefly re-enter childhood,” she said. “However,” she added, “if adults have been lying about Santa, even though it has usually been well intentioned, what else is a lie? If Santa isn’t real, are fairies real? Is magic? Is God?”

They conclude, “Many people may long for a time when imagination was accepted and encouraged, which may not be the case in adult life. Might it be the case that the harshness of real life requires the creation of something better, something to believe in, something to hope for in the future or to return to a long-lost childhood a long time ago in a galaxy far far away?”