WANT TO keep your childs’ belief in Santa alive this Christmas? Well, new research says the answer starts and ends with the internet.
A study of 2000 adults suggests Australian parents should keep their children away from browsers, because the internet is breaking festive hearts.
The research revealed the average Aussie kid now learns the truth about Santa at seven-years-old, compared to nine-years-old in their parents’ childhood.
Website ads, internet browser history and saved gift searches are all causing kids to join the dots and expose who is really delivering presents on Christmas Eve.
How to keep your chi9ld’s belief in Santa alive this Christmas. Picture: iStock.Source:istock
Gone are the days of finding presents hidden away in cupboards, or finding out from an older sibling. Social media and internet browsers mean Santa’s identity is just a quick Google search away.
The study revealed the most common online offender was advertising, with 44 per cent of children questioning their belief in Santa after seeing ads online for the very gifts they’d wished for in their letters to the North Pole.
Over a third said a quick Google search on Santa returned web pages explaining that he was no more than a merry myth.
While 25 per cent of children simply watched on in the background as their parents shopped online for Christmas presents.
Facebook also exposed Santa’s true identity for one in 10 Aussie kids.
Here’s how to keep Santa’s true identity a secret this Christmas. Picture: iStock.Source:istock
But there are ways to keep the magic alive this Christmas.
Hide My A**!, who commissioned the study, created a plug-in enabling parents to control browsing, in order to lower or eliminate the chance of any Santa-spoiling stories popping up from a Google search. The plug-in, which comes with a ‘Switch On’ function, works to effectively hide any search results, web pages, tweets or Facebook posts where certain combinations of words such as ‘Santa’ and ‘fake’ appear.
“With this campaign, we wanted to give parents an optional tool that would allow them to maintain the magic of Christmas and the mystery of Santa for that little bit longer,” Cian McKenna-Charley of hidemyass.com said.
For parents wanting to surprise their children with a realistic message from Santa, make a stop at PortableNorthPole.com, where you can create free, realistic video greetings for your whole family. Santa will say the child’s name, show photos in his album, talk about their good deeds and even acknowledge how well they did at school. The site also allows parents to create personalised phone calls from Santa.
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