Ontario professor Laura Pinto thinks the popular “Elf on a Shelf” toy is conditioning children for growing up in a surveillance state. Is that any different than Santa knowing when you are sleeping, when you’re awake, and if you’ve been naughty or nice? It is apparently quite sinister.
from the Inquisitr.com
Laura Pinto is a digital technology professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Pinto recently published an academic report which argues that the Elf On The Shelf book fosters a “sinister” message. The “Who’s The Boss” paper claims that the idea of an elf reporting back to Santa Claus each night in regards to the behavior of children, “sets up children for dangerous, uncritical acceptance of power structures.”
What you looking at?
Elf on the Shelf is a story about how Santa’s “scout elves” hide in homes to watch the activities of little ones. When everyone goes to sleep, the elf flies back to the North Pole to inform Santa Claus about the events of the day – both the naughty and the nice. Before the family wakes each morning, the elf flies back from the North Pole and picks a new hiding place inside the home.
Since the elf chooses a new hiding spot each morning, the family can engage in an ongoing holiday game of hide-and-seek. Professor Laura Pinto has deemed the Elf on the Shelf “an external form on non-familial surveillance” that will condition children to accept surveillance by the state as well.
“If you grow up thinking it’s cool for the elves to watch me and report back to Santa, well, then its cool for the NSA to watch me and report back to the government,” Professor Pinto told Inside Halton.
Since most children outgrow the notion of Santa Claus by the time they are 5 or 6, it is unclear how many of the “growing up” years are negatively impacted by the alleged surveillance. Once the belief that a magical man flies around the world giving free toys to good girls and boys has evaporated, the Elf on the Shelf “surveillance” for placement on the naughty or nice list likely loses its muster as well.
If this video report is true, we probably have more to worry about than just elvish surveillance.
If you are still worried that the little elves may actually be reporting back to the NSA (Northpole Santa Agency), the myth busting website Snopes says the claim is false. Read more at ComputerWorld: “Snopes debunks Elf on the Shelf as NSA spy;”
If you really want to get into the holiday spying spirit, you can get the Santa Spy Cam app for your smart phone and put Santa right at the scene of your own Christmas crime.