Internet ruining Christmas for Brit kids

We may all know that Santa is real but, unfortunately 3.3 million children in UK have had the magic of Christmas ruined by the internet.

One in ten children have looked through their parents internet history. Picture: flickr.com

Online ads, search engines and social media have been named as the main reasons kids’ belief in Santa is depleting.

Over 2,000 parents were polled by Censuswide to discover the reasons why some children (mistakenly) stop believing in Santa Claus.

Since the launch of Google in 1997, 26 per cent of children have had their belief in Santa ended by the internet.

The age when children stop believing in Santa is going down and now stands at six years and eleven months.

The downward trend is even more shocking when compared to the age of their parents when they stopped believing which was on average, eight years and seven months - a 19 per cent reduction between generations.

If the 14.4 per cent reduction in average age continued without change then it could be estimated that by 2060 the average age children stop believing in Santa falls below 3 years of age (to 2.7 years) – the typical age when a child begins to comprehend the idea of Santa Claus.

Targeted ads, search engines and seeing the results of a parents’ shop for gifts online are the top reasons for children finding out who really brought them presents.

One in five (21 per cent) of parents pointed the finger of blame at the internet with the most common offender being advertising, this was seconded by 47 per cent of children who spotted an online ad pop up for the very gifts they’d wished for in their letter to the North Pole.

However, over a third of tech-savvy kids performed a simple Google search for Santa and clicked onto a web page that claimed the jolly fat man was a myth.

For one in 10 children, their holiday happiness came crashing down after reading an unfortunate Tweet or Facebook post saying that Santa is make believe.

One in ten computer literate and mischievous youngsters even admitted that they’ve looked through their parents’ internet search history or online shopping accounts to find damning evidence that Mr Claus and his elves were not running the show. Those children ended up on Santa’s naughty list.