{"id":2524547,"date":"2025-12-24T08:29:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T13:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-here-this-years-dumbest-psychological-take-on-kids-and-christmas-giving-coal-cripples-kids-for-life\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T08:33:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T13:33:54","slug":"its-here-this-years-dumbest-psychological-take-on-kids-and-christmas-giving-coal-cripples-kids-for-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-here-this-years-dumbest-psychological-take-on-kids-and-christmas-giving-coal-cripples-kids-for-life\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s Here: This Year&#8217;s Dumbest Psychological Take on Kids and Christmas &#8211; &#8216;Giving Coal Cripples Kids for Life&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fits-here-this-years-dumbest-psychological-take-on-kids-and-christmas-giving-coal-cripples-kids-for-life%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2524547&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Teh article responds to a KNSD-TV interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/president-of-taxpayer-funded-antiracist-group-funneled-nearly-300k-to-husbands-law-firm\/\" title=\"President of Taxpayer-Funded Antiracist Group Funneled Nearly 0K to Husband\u2019s Law Firm\">child psychologist<\/a> Mariana P\u00e9rez Borrero, who called the tradition of giving naughty children coal &#8220;outdated,&#8221; &#8220;fear-based,&#8221; and emotionally manipulative, arguing it fosters shame rather than responsibility. The writer dismisses the broader Santa-debate as trivial, contends childhood wonder is already under threat from the internet, and defends using fear, shame, and conditional approval as valid parenting tools when balanced with care. They argue that modest fear and emotional correction help children learn consequences and integrate into society,and that adults should separate unconditional love from approval of behavior. The piece criticizes Borrero as politically biased and worries that minimizing shame contributes to cultural decline, while ultimately leaving the choice to individual parents (the author personally prefers using coal for grilling).  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>One of the dumbest annual discussions you&rsquo;ll hear around Christmas time is whether or not it&rsquo;s &ldquo;okay&rdquo; for parents to lie to their children about Santa Claus.<\/p>\n<p>Frankly, who cares?<\/p>\n<p>Childhood wonder and merriment are rapidly dying off in the age of ubiquitous internet and social media.<\/p>\n<p>Let the kids believe that portly St. Nick comes down a chimney on Christmas night. There are much bigger issues facing children these days.<\/p>\n<p>Well, apparently at least one &ldquo;expert&rdquo; &mdash; who&rsquo;s clearly been captured by leftism &mdash; has found that much bigger issue.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>And it&rsquo;s somehow even dumber than the Santa Claus debate.<\/p>\n<p>NBC News&rsquo; San Diego affiliate, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsandiego.com\/holidays\/parents-kids-bad-behavior-coal-christmas\/3943659\/?utm_social_post_id=620133006&amp;utm_social_handle_id=15535860\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KNSD-TV<\/a>, put out a piece on Dec. 10 where they spoke to child psychologist Mariana P&eacute;rez Borrero.<\/p>\n<p>Borrero spoke about the harsh consequences of&hellip; giving your naughty children coal for Christmas.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In my experience as a child psychologist, it&rsquo;s outdated,&rdquo; Borreo explained. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s based on fear. It&rsquo;s based on fear-based control. It&rsquo;s based on threats, usually on empty threats. And it&rsquo;s based on emotional manipulation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>She further added, &ldquo;They internalize shame and not responsibility. We teach them that they have to feel bad about themselves and shame because of what they did and that the adult approval is conditional.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Oh, boy. Look, I don&rsquo;t care if you, as a parent, use the coal technique for unruly children during Christmas. That&rsquo;s&nbsp;<em>your&nbsp;<\/em>prerogative as the leader of that child. The coal is practically besides the point.<\/p>\n<p>There are a few important things to unpack here, so let&rsquo;s examine them.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s based on fear&rdquo;<\/strong><\/em>: And? There is literally nothing wrong with instilling a little fear in your children, so long as it&rsquo;s not the <em>only&nbsp;<\/em>thing you use to discipline. A mixture of fear and affirmation actually makes for an incredibly healthy worldview.<\/p>\n<p>The world is a scary place, and leaving your kids completely foreign to fear &mdash; whether it&rsquo;s fear of consequences or fear of failure &mdash; is setting them up to falter as adults.<\/p>\n<p>Concerns about &ldquo;fear-based control&rdquo; and &ldquo;threats&rdquo; are <em>healthy&nbsp;<\/em>impulses to have.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s based on emotional manipulation&rdquo;<\/strong><\/em>: This scary-sounding phrase is actually just a weak parent&rsquo;s way of justifying not bothering to mold their child&rsquo;s philosophy. Emotional manipulation is necessary for young brains to wire for proper integration into society.<\/p>\n<p>Without it, emotions run unchecked, with no safeguards, and no off-ramp.<\/p>\n<p>(See: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/hunter-biden-issues-vulgar-response-melania-trump-threatens-1-billion-lawsuit-epstein-lies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Biden, Hunter<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>&ldquo;They internalize shame&rdquo;<\/strong><\/em>: Oh, this is rich. Shame, or the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rand-paul-slams-dr-fauci-gets-him-to-admit-theres-no-evidence-to-back-covid-boosters-for-kids\/\" title=\"Rand Paul Slams Dr. Fauci, Gets Him to Admit There&#039;s No Evidence to Back COVID Boosters for ...\">distinct lack thereof<\/a>, is arguably the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >biggest reason societal rot<\/a> has set in as badly as it has. OnlyFans? TikTok slop? Participation trophy culture? They all come from a distinct lack of shame in society.<\/p>\n<p>And to be clear, not unlike fear, shame can&rsquo;t be the&nbsp;<em>only&nbsp;<\/em>parental tool used. But shame plus a tender hand? That, again, creates a child who will grow up to understand that there are consequences &mdash; both good and bad &mdash; for every decision they make.<\/p>\n<p>That sort of rationale is sorely missing today.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>&ldquo;Adult approval is conditional&rdquo;<\/strong><\/em>: As it should be! One of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-texas-bill-that-prohibits-social-media-censorship-is-a-mess\/\" title=\"The Texas Bill That Prohibits Social Media Censorship Is a Mess\">biggest issues<\/a> with ill-behaved children is usually from a lack of parenting, or more accurately, a lack of caring parents. Yes, parents should unconditionally love their kids. But approval of behavior and actions are separate from love.<\/p>\n<p>Good behavior should be praised and reinforced. Bad behavior should be shamed and disapproved of. And up until relatively recently, this was accepted as a universal parenting truth.<\/p>\n<p>Look, again, this isn&rsquo;t about coal. That&rsquo;s completely up to your discretion as a parent. I personally wouldn&rsquo;t do it, but not for any reasons proffered by Borrero. I just think coal goes much better when used to grill a nice steak.<\/p>\n<p>But if people are going to present as experts on parenting and tacitly setting up future generations to fail, this writer (who&rsquo;s also a parent) can&rsquo;t let that slide without retort.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Don&#8217;t worry about Santa, let kids believe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2524548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2025-12-11T185228.838.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[69377,69376,69375,69373,69374],"class_list":["post-2524547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ableism","tag-giving-coal","tag-holiday-parenting","tag-media-critique-2","tag-psychology-skepticism"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2025-12-11T185228.838.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2524547"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2524551,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524547\/revisions\/2524551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2524548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2524547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2524547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2524547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}