Teacher Reveals That Santa Claus Isn't Real to High Schooler

A high school sophomore discovered that Santa Claus isn't real in a class through their teacher.

In a Reddit "Am I The A--hole?" thread, a teacher told the story of how she may have accidentally ruined some Christmas magic for one of her students. The 10th grade English teacher with students between the ages of 15 and 16, had the class reading "Animal Farm." The premise of the book was animals acting gullible and "easily falling for propaganda."

One of her students asked why they were easily falling for the propaganda. She explained that they had not developed critical thinking skills at that stage.

"For example, you probably believed in Santa when you were younger, but as you got older, you developed critical thinking skills and realized that it would be impossible for Santa to deliver a billion gifts in one night," the teacher told her class. "She [the student] then replied with 'Wait what, Santa isn't real?' She looked around her table group and asked the other students 'You believe in Santa, right?'"

Some of the other students broke out into laughter at the student's comments while another held their finger to their mouth in an effort to silence them and to quit laughing. The teacher noted that the student "seemed pretty upset for the rest of the class."

"So I basically told one of my Sophomore year students that Santa wasn't real, assuming that she would already know as a 15-year old," she summarized.

While a good portion of the responses were assuming that the girl was either faking it or that it was time that she knew the truth, others shared their own experiences with Santa.

"I was in grade 9 when a teacher did the same thing to me more-or-less word for word," a Reddit user responded. "My parents were neglectful and emotionally abusive. I clung onto the magic of Santa thinking I was a good child. That teacher broke my heart into a million pieces with the truth. I don't hold it against him; he didn't know my home life."

Another person admitted that they let the secret out to their friend when they were 13. "When a Santa themed radio ad came on. I said something like, 'Isn't it really cool how all the adults pretend when stuff like this comes on?' and I have been haunted by the look on his face in the rear view mirror since."

A third person shared that they believed in the Christmas icon until they were almost 14, as their life was "broken and torn up" at the time and "needed to believe in something."