A substitute teacher in Britain has landed on Santa's naughty list this year. Annoyed by her youngsters' rowdy excitement over the fat man's impending arrival, the teacher blurted out to the class: "It's your parents who leave presents on Christmas Day!" Imagine the instant transformation: pure glee to pitiful heartbreak. While it's true that most tikes treat substitute teachers with less than proper deference, this particular "supply teacher" (as the Brits call ‘em) deserves a swift boot down the chimney. The class of seven-year-olds "burst into tears." Come on, scroogy supply, you should know better! Not surprisingly, fuming parents weren't satisfied with a bag of coal; the school has promised not to hire the substitute again. But thankfully, this Christmas story has a happy ending. To salvage the innocence of his sobbing progeny, one parent (Santa's helper no doubt) had a brilliant idea. "We told him that she [the teacher] did not believe in Father Christmas because of her religion and he's fine now." Let's hope this teacher learned her lesson.
"Primary school teacher who told children: ‘Santa does not exist' is fired," Daily Mail Reporter, December 11, 2008