The Moral Dilemma of the Tooth Fairy

In the three weeks that I have been working in a school I have had some interesting conversations with the kids about faith and religion. They have some pretty deep conversations – for example “did humans evolve or were they made from mud?”, “how could Mary also be God?” You know, just your standard topics for seven year olds.

But the other day I was asked one of the most serious questions of all and I had no idea what to say.

“Rachel, is the Tooth Fairy real?”

Five innocent faces turned to me awaiting confirmation of their argument that the Tooth Fairy is either real or your parents.

Such an innocent question that sparked a major Moral Dilemma and blind panic.

What was I supposed to say?

I had to either confirm a lie or destroy a belief in a kindly fairy that takes away your teeth that have fallen out and replaces it with money.

I had the opportunity to stand up for the Tooth Truth and defeat some of the lies adults needlessly tell children. The downside being it would probably make some kids cry and their parents very angry (although in the long run not having to give their kid money for every tooth would save them atleast £20).

Was this child asking me because they thought that as an adult I would tell them the truth? Or were they just asking me because I happened to be there at the time?

Cue the major soul searching. Did I want to lie? Did I want to crush their dreams?

In the end I totally wimped out and said “Well, the tooth fairy always visited me when I was young”. I mean, I had just sat there in their science lesson and not said anything about how the evolution of dinosaurs from lizards was more of an opinion rather than a fact, even though it’s taught as one.

I had better start prepping my answer to the Father Christmas question.