The Story of Grades with Luke Green

Uh, so thank you for the opportunity to offer this content warning.

And so with this, we're gonna be exploring Santa Claus and kind of the role that he plays in the lives of millions and millions of Americans, and kind of the role that Santa has assumed within American culture.

And so whether you are a celebrant of the holiday, whether Santa doesn't stop by your house, it, it still informs kind of the conversation because we're not taking a look at the kind of traditional Christian-based understanding of Santa Claus, but much more so how Santa Claus has morphed and evolved into the character that he is today.

And starting to then kind of unpack of what is the story of Santa Claus? What are the metrics that we're using to measure ch- children? And kind of what impact is now created as a result of creating this myth and this system within a society? And it is kind of multilayered, multifaceted, but because it's something that permeates our culture, everybody has kind of this touch point and this fundamental understanding of, uh, here is a myth's truth that is shared widely, but we don't ever fully go back and unpack, okay, well, what possible consequences or effects kind of come from the introduction of this type of myth into a society?

So this is our final war- warning that if you are listening with people around that you would not wish to hear about unpacking the story of Santa Claus, this is a great time to turn off the show.

And otherwise, Luke, you're-- I, I guess this is a great time to invite you to tell us a story.

Sure.

Absolutely.

Uh, and so Santa Claus, much like grades, isn't something that is planned into our formal education, right? So when you first receive a grade, it might just kind of be that very basic A is mean good kids, C is mean kids that are trying but aren't quite there yet, and then F equals, you know, some bad, naughty children.

And so that's where kind of the Santa metaphor can be helpful because imagine yourself kind of back in that second-grade classroom.

Perhaps you come from a culture where Santa, you know, isn't a known character, and you land yourself in a public elementary school classroom.

And everybody's starting to get excited.

It's late November and, "Hey, Luke, are you aware that Santa Claus is watching?" "Nope.

Brand new to this school, brand new to this part of the country.

I have no idea what you're talking about." "Well, so get this.

Here's the rules of Santa Claus.

There is a man who you will not see, who is watching you constantly to see if you're, quote unquote, 'a good boy.' If you behave, if you listen to your teachers, if you do your homework, if you brush your teeth, if you do all of these things, you will be rewarded with the gift that you want come Christmas morning." And so inquisitive young me would be like, "Oh, okay, cool." Like, "So he watches us everywhere? Like, my parents said that if somebody's watching us, we should tell an adult." Like, "No, no, no," like, "They're on board with it.

This is totally cool." But we know that when you wake up Christmas morning, that's the metric.

That's the measurements.

If you wake up and there's gifts under your tree, you are a good kid, and again, if you wake up with coal or just a pack of socks, you are a bad kid.

And of course, this i- in a sense, the magic of Christmas, there's all sorts of positive upsides to it.

But where it becomes potentially problematic is when that myth kind of gets built on top of each other.

The narrative that we sell to our kids are that these gifts are earned, right? The metric is those who are good children or better children, you receive more.

Those who are bad kids, you got coal, you have less gifts coming your way.

And so then if asked, "Hey, why do we do this?" "Well, no, it's celebrating the Christian spirit." Uh, and then you can get all sorts of different variations of what that means and what's it serving.

Uh, so thank you for the opportunity to offer this content warning.

And so with this, we're gonna be exploring Santa Claus and kind of the role that he plays in the lives of millions and millions of Americans, and kind of the role that Santa has assumed within American culture.

And so whether you are a celebrant of the holiday, whether Santa doesn't stop by your house, it, it still informs kind of the conversation because we're not taking a look at the kind of traditional Christian-based understanding of Santa Claus, but much more so how Santa Claus has morphed and evolved into the character that he is today.

And starting to then kind of unpack of what is the story of Santa Claus? What are the metrics that we're using to measure ch- children? And kind of what impact is now created as a result of creating this myth and this system within a society? And it is kind of multilayered, multifaceted, but because it's something that permeates our culture, everybody has kind of this touch point and this fundamental understanding of, uh, here is a myth's truth that is shared widely, but we don't ever fully go back and unpack, okay, well, what possible consequences or effects kind of come from the introduction of this type of myth into a society?

So this is our final war- warning that if you are listening with people around that you would not wish to hear about unpacking the story of Santa Claus, this is a great time to turn off the show.

And otherwise, Luke, you're-- I, I guess this is a great time to invite you to tell us a story.

Sure.

Absolutely.

Uh, and so Santa Claus, much like grades, isn't something that is planned into our formal education, right? So when you first receive a grade, it might just kind of be that very basic A is mean good kids, C is mean kids that are trying but aren't quite there yet, and then F equals, you know, some bad, naughty children.

And so that's where kind of the Santa metaphor can be helpful because imagine yourself kind of back in that second-grade classroom.

Perhaps you come from a culture where Santa, you know, isn't a known character, and you land yourself in a public elementary school classroom.

And everybody's starting to get excited.

It's late November and, "Hey, Luke, are you aware that Santa Claus is watching?" "Nope.

Brand new to this school, brand new to this part of the country.

I have no idea what you're talking about." "Well, so get this.

Here's the rules of Santa Claus.

There is a man who you will not see, who is watching you constantly to see if you're, quote unquote, 'a good boy.' If you behave, if you listen to your teachers, if you do your homework, if you brush your teeth, if you do all of these things, you will be rewarded with the gift that you want come Christmas morning." And so inquisitive young me would be like, "Oh, okay, cool." Like, "So he watches us everywhere? Like, my parents said that if somebody's watching us, we should tell an adult." Like, "No, no, no," like, "They're on board with it.

This is totally cool." But we know that when you wake up Christmas morning, that's the metric.

That's the measurements.

If you wake up and there's gifts under your tree, you are a good kid, and again, if you wake up with coal or just a pack of socks, you are a bad kid.

And of course, this i- in a sense, the magic of Christmas, there's all sorts of positive upsides to it.

But where it becomes potentially problematic is when that myth kind of gets built on top of each other.

The narrative that we sell to our kids are that these gifts are earned, right? The metric is those who are good children or better children, you receive more.

Those who are bad kids, you got coal, you have less gifts coming your way.

And so then if asked, "Hey, why do we do this?" "Well, no, it's celebrating the Christian spirit." Uh, and then you can get all sorts of different variations of what that means and what's it serving.