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.
