DD Teacher Told Her That Mickey Mouse Is Not Real!

[vicky1bfc]

hi
i agree,i would be soo mad if my daughters teacher told them that the characters were not real,the whole part of been a child is to believe things like these,too me its like telling them that santa and the tooth fairy are not real.one of my daughters when asked what she wants to be when she grows up says "a tooth fairy",theres noway i would tell her that she can not be one because there not real,i would also go mad if anyone else told her.children grow up fast enough as it is without telling them things like there not real,keep them children as long as possible if you ask me,the world is hard enogh as it is.

im the sort that if they were told that there not real i would be the first one into school finding out why she was told that and making myself clear that i was not happy about it.

 

[mcnuss]

I am not going to flame you, but I don't share your outrage or disappointment at all. I don't think it was a terribly nice thing for the teacher to do, but I don't think it was unprofessional either. To be perfectly honest, I don't really *get* celebrating Mickey's birthday during class time to begin with....

But some of you have posited "why" would she do this? Well, maybe another child asked if Mickey is real, and she did not want to lie. Maybe a child seemed said they had been frightened of Mickey while at WDW, so she wanted to reassure. I can probably think of 10 other rational explanations beyond "just to be mean".

I am reminded of what DD's principal, only half-joking, told all the incoming 1st grade parents at our open house: "If you'll promise to only believe 50% of what your kids tell you happens at school, we'll promise to believe only 50% of what they tell us happens at home". Think about that one for a minute. Remember you might not have gotten the full context of the conversation.

Finally I assure you a 6 yo will figure out after 2 seconds in WDW that Belle can't be in 2 parks at once, and that the Belle she sees at Epcot looks decidedly different than the Belle at MGM or MK - or even funnier for us, that her handwriting was rather different! Point being, though, that a child glosses over these "facts" and lets her imagination win out. You can tell her ANYTHING, but if she believes otherwise in her heart, then it doesn't matter.

Finally, an anecdote about my DD who is much more pragmatic than I, and from whom I have learned so much. When she was 3 we went to see the Little Mermaid on Ice. On the way there, I joked "gosh, I wonder how a mermaid skates, seems like it would be hard with just a big fin!". She said "Mom, it's not REALLY Ariel, it's a person dressed up, don't you know that?" Once I picked myself up from the floor, I asked her how she knew that. "Because the real Ariel lives in the movie. She's a cartoon. She's not alive. " If the kid rolled her eyes at me any harder, they'd have fallen out.

There is a very fine line between fantasy and reality for small children. What I've learned is that they define that line, and we have much less affect than we'd like to think.

 

[catwho]

MICKEY'S NOT REAL?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

[HappyMommy2]

So sorry to hear about your daughter's experience

When I was in the third grade, my teacher went to great lengths to emphasize the "fact" that God wasn't real. Now THAT was something that I'd be truly upset about as a parent!

 

[susy]

My son's first trip was when he was three. He knew that the characters were people dressed up. We never talked about it. He just knew. He believes in Santa, but lately has been questioning..... I woudlnt' worry about it. they often go back and forth with this stuff for a while before they decide on it.

 

[2minny]

yes, my child's music teacher told the kids that she believed in santa until 4th grade and then realized he wasn't real. My daughter came home in tears. I'm not sure if some teachers realize how much their opinions affect their students, they are looked up to and admired. It made me so upset, I had always worried that older kids would tell her, hadn't dreamed a teacher would! My daughter cried for a week, it was terrible.

 

[Madi100]

I think I have decided not to say anything to my daughter's teacher. First of all, I agree with one of the above posters who said "You believe half of what they tell you, and I'll do the same". I've alwasy tried to live by that. My daughter is old enough to realize that Mickey is not really the real thing. My daughter said today that mice aren't that big. It's just the whole point of it that she had to offer that information without thinking about what that could mean. I understand that more than likely children that age KNOW that. However, I feel that she could have looked at Mickey along the same lines as Santa. There was a front page story in a neighboring town this Christmas about a teacher who told her kids that Santa wasn't real. I just feel the same way about all characters like that. Don't ruin the magic.

 

[2minny]

I know there are differing opinions, but if you're upset as a parent, I would let the teacher know. Not in an ugly way. But just make her aware of your concern, so she doesn't do that for another child next year. Maybe next time she could say "ask your Mommy" if there was a question. It's not the teachers place to ruin the magic of childhood. Some parents let their kids believe for years, others think they need to know the truth, either way, it's not the teacher's place imho!

 

[charabby]

I just wanted to throw this out there.

I had *no idea* until I started visiting these boards to plan our vacation this summer that parents were even supposed to pretend that Mickey is 'real'. To me, it is so obvious that he isn't and it would not have occured to me that kids are supposed to believe otherwise. I would not have thought twice about confirming to a kid that 'Mickey' is just a person wearing a costume, and I wouldn't have done it to be mean. Once I realized how important this issue is to some parents, I instructed my kids not to talk about the costumes while we are in the parks b/c so many parents wanted their kids to think the characters are real and we weren't going to ruin it for them.

Anyway, my point is that most likely the teacher wasn't being 'mean' - she may simply not realize that to some parents, Mickey is on par with Santa. If I were the OP, I might just drop a note to the teacher just to let her know so hopefully she won't disappoint other kids in the future. I definitely wouldn't make a big fuss, though.

Incidentally, I doubt that knowing about the costumes will ruin the 'magic' for any kids. My dds have always known they are in costumes, and they had a great time in the parks. They were very excited to meet the characters.

Incidentally, most of the princesses and characters actually have similar signatures - more than one autograph my dd's got from Pluto has a bone for the 'L', for example and most of the princesses make very swirly signatures. Evidentally, they're taught to do it that way.

 

[WhispyPixie]

Unfortunately that damage that has been done cannot be undone! I am sure that although extremely unprofessional the teacher would not have intentionaly destroyed a child's imagination and dreams.

I would hope that you at some point can have a calm discussion with the teacher and let her know that Disney Magic and the wonderful things that go with it are very special to your family and that continuing to create a magical love for it in your daughter is a priority for your family.

As for your daughter, simply explain to her that Mickey and all his friends are created with special helpers and friends to help make that special feeling that we get each time we see him. That Mickey lives in our storybooks, our movies, at WDW and our hearts and he is ALWAYS real there!

Hope anything i might have said helps!

 

[AmazingGrace]

We took our first trip to WDW when the oldest ds was 4. A few months later, we were reminiscing about the trip and Josh said, "Mickey and Goofy were just costumes, right?" I said yes, but it was fun seeing Mickey and Goofy, wasn't it, and he said yes. Then he said, Santa isn't real either, is he? I said that Santa WAS real, and lived a long time ago, and i told him about St. Nicholas. Then he said, "well that's okay mom because Christmas isn't about Santa, Christmas is about Jesus, and i KNOW Jesus is real!" Out of the mouth of babes!!

Now we have three kids, and the oldest Ds is just as excited about meeting Goofy as he was when he believed them to be real. My telling him didn't affect that at all. The magic still lives.
The teacher probably should have kept her opinion to herself. While i didn't mind telling my kids, I would'nt want the news to come from someone else.

 

[sarahsmom73]

I'm a music teacher and I had the opposite thing happen. We are presenting our winter concerts in a couple of weeks in honor of Mickey's 75th birthday. All of the grades are singing songs from Disney movies.. The first graders are wearing mouse ears.. I had a 1st grader announce to the whole class that Mickey Mouse isn't real!!! I was soooooo mad! (This is the same kid who announced to the class that Santa isn't real either!).

 

[Madi100]

I'm a music teacher and I had the opposite thing happen. We are presenting our winter concerts in a couple of weeks in honor of Mickey's 75th birthday. All of the grades are singing songs from Disney movies.. The first graders are wearing mouse ears.. I had a 1st grader announce to the whole class that Mickey Mouse isn't real!!! I was soooooo mad! (This is the same kid who announced to the class that Santa isn't real either!).

So, how did you react to it? My daughter had kids on the bus tell her that Santa wasn't real either. It's easy to dispute another kid. You just tell your child that the other child doesn't know what they are talking about. It's hard to dispute the teacher.

 

[sarahsmom73]

That is what I did... I told them in fact I was headed to "Micjey's Castle" in April and I couldn't wait to see him!

 

[sarahsmom73]

That is what I did... I told them in fact I was headed to "Mickey's Castle" in April and I couldn't wait to see him!

 

[dis4harley]

I hope that the teacher just didn't realize what she was saying.
My daughter is 5 and she just knows that the characters are not real, but she is still as exited as can be about WDW and seeing the characters.

Kids figure things out soon enough on their own. Noone should end any childhood magic before that tome comes. I think that any issue like this is a parents job and no one elses.

 

[C.Ann]

I would be LIVID if a teacher said that to my 5 yr. old granddaughter!!

A teacher has no business telling a child that Mickey isn't real; there's no such thing as Santa Claus; etc..

They should stick to the curriculum at hand..

And yes - I would definitely speak to the teacher about this..

 

[phamton]

Originally posted by charabby

I had *no idea* until I started visiting these boards to plan our vacation this summer that parents were even supposed to pretend that Mickey is 'real'. To me, it is so obvious that he isn't and it would not have occured to me that kids are supposed to believe otherwise.

Me too. I took my kids to Disneyland when my twins were age 3 years old and my oldest daughter was 6. I don't think they ever believed the characters were real. Just as they didn't believe that a guy in a clown suit at the circus really lived in makeup and costume all the time.

My twins believed the face characters may have been real, like Cinderella but not Mickey. My oldest daughter and one of the twins even wanted a Mickey costume for Halloween. The other twin wanted to dress as Spiderman for Christmas.

 

[mcnuss]

I would really hesitate to go to the school or the teacher on this (and I think the OP has decided to let it drop but just in case...)...calling this particular incident "unprofessional" and acting outraged minimizes the other, much more important things your children's teachers are responsible for and do with them every day. We have so many real problems in the schools, when we complain about things like this, I am afraid we create a situation where the schools start to tune us out. Please save the conferences, phone calls, emails, etc... for those really important educational issues. I think that if I were a teacher and someone called me about this, I'd laugh about it behind their back and then take them much less seriously the next time they called.

Flame me if you wish, but I think it's true.

 

[meeko_33785]

Personally, I think that that was a little out of line for a teacher to say that. I think that that sort of thing should be left to the parents to tell thier children, not the teacher.