Parents should not instill the belief that Santa Claus exists in their child's mind.

":)" Chip off the old block eh? :) You should see my other debates Anyway to rebut your arguments. "1) While it may be true that what my opponent states is a disciplinary tool, it is not the best one nor an effective one....." Your forgetting the whole point. It doesn't matter if it will eventually fail; by then they will probably be analytical by nature (hence adolescence). The point is that it will work for the moment. Virtually all means of discipline will probably fail at some point. Let me take your example: ""if you don't be good, I won't buy the Power Ranger toy that you really wanted to play with." If you're going to figure out the santa claus hoax, you're probably to dang old to be playing with those dang power rangers. Even so, direct punishment may lead to direct results, but that doesn't necessarily make them the better results. If anything your kids may resent you for punishing them. Why not instead try positive reenforcement to PREVENT children from even thinking of getting in trouble. Why not get them envolved in sports, music, or arts? Or get them to work around the house and in return you pay them allowance? The best kind of results are not direct ones, but long term ones that keeps the childs mind on achieving a certain constructive goals to create positive benefits. Here's a good example that directly correlates with the debate: RELIGION! You have strong belief in god right? So you aren't going to lie to people right? Every time before you lie, cheat, or steal, since you have strong faith in god you'll think, "well, maybe I shouldn't do these terrible things. After all, if I'm good, I'll go to heaven (ultimate utopia with free food and air conditioning). And if I proceed with my sinful actions I will go to hell (the ultimate place of suffering with no tv or air conditioning). Since you believe in this thing so strongly, with 'certain' knowledge of it's existence, it compels you to do it's will which happens to be positive. "2) The example presented by me is the same presented by my opponent. You know that you will go to heaven (if you believe in God) the same way that you know that you will die if you jump off a 40 ft. tall building." Man, no you don't. Death by jumping off of a 40ft building has been proven. The existence of heaven remains unproven. It's a faith my friend, not a fact. "3) "You shouldn't go around criticizing people for their beliefs. Everyone has their own cultures and you should respect them for it." Unlike my opponent says, I am not criticizing people's beliefs and disrespecting them. I am simply stating, to sum it up, that it is better to believe nothing than to believe in something false. Why should people go around believing in false things when there are more important things to be worrying about?" You're wrong. Santa claus could be manipulating everyone on christmas by moving superfast and changing everyone's positions so they will get each other presents. And God could be doing the same thing with blessings. The existence of santa claus isn't false. If it is then god would suffer the same fate. Why believe in god when there's more things to be worrying about? I'll tell you why: It keeps people calm. It keeps people disciplined. It keeps people believing that if they stay consistent with the recommended action of society, their actions will pay off. It keeps people in line. "4) You wouldn't have to tell the children that Santa Claus didn't exist had you not told them in the first place that they did. And by saying, "By that age it won't really matter because they will probably be skeptical by nature anyway (being more mature and therefore more aware and questioning).", my opponent is agreeing with the point that I have made above. When they do get older and figure out that Santa does not exist, they will realize that their parents have been lying to them all that time." And? They'll probably be fine knowing that they were extremely naive and gullible when they were younger. :) The resolution is negated Thank you