Snuggling down for a nice Christmas family movie? Time to go down the mental check list. Cocoa? Check. Sugar cookies? Check. Warm blanket and cozy PJs? Check.  Cheesy Christmas classic that completely counteracts all of the life lessons that parents strive to teach their children? Check and check.

The family Christmas stories you have enjoyed for countless years may actually be completely counter productive to teaching children the common concepts of safety. Many of the movies depict children breaking the simple safety adages such as “don’t talk to strangers” and “be nice to others.”

Take Warner Bros. The Polar Express as an example. In the first 20 minutes of the film a boy sneaks out of his parents house, talks to a stranger, is tempted with promises of seeing the North Pole, and leaves for the North Pole aboard a train.  By the end of the movie, he has not only drunk ‘hot chocolate’ that this mysterious man gave him, but also climbed all over a moving train, followed his abductor to see a man in a red suit, and witnessed first hand a serious invasion of privacy in the form of secret video surveillance in the households of children. The protagonist has essentially been abducted from his house in the dead of night and ferried away to an undisclosed location. One could argue that the hot chocolate was a hallucinogenic drug that caused him to believe his capture really did take him to see Santa Claus.

Possibly drugged due to accepting hot chocolate from a strange man driving a train full of children, this boy is than separated from the rest of the children and accidentally sees a room where associates of his abductors are filming children and families in their homes. Is this a conspiracy? Why would Parents want their child to think this was a good message for their children to receive?

The answer is simple: parents don’t realize just what type of message the movie is really sending. Most parents don’t even realize the ramifications such films could have on their children. The darker side of the movie is covered up with fun, the so called “magic of Christmas,” and all the kid-friendly traditions associated with this sacred day. Suddenly a strange train conductor abducting a child from his home or a group of bullying reindeer seem like exciting Christmas tales.

“Truly when you think about it, these shows are the exact opposite of everything we ever warned are children about. In Frosty the Snowman, the little girl runs away with a snowman and hops a train!” Lillian Strickland, a guardian of a Bob Jones student and parent of four, explains. “ The strange man from the polar express is tempting children with Santa Candy, the ultimate candy of all.”

By watching these shows, a child might actually think it is okay to take ride with a stranger. Especially when man offers to take him to the North Pole. They might see stealing as okay idea, so long as they give it back later.

While watching a Christmas classic is fun and enjoyable for the entire family, you might want to consider just what your child may be learning from the show.