I have a very dear friend who has been a professional Santa Claus for many years. The worst stories he has are of parents’ emotional abuse in conjunction with the experience. Some even took him aside and demanded he tell their kids that if they didn’t change their behavior, they’d get nothing. In at least one case, it was bed wetting. Instead, he’d tell them that he knew they were a good kid and were doing their best and that’s all that mattered. He’s a wonderful person.

Forcing kids who don’t want to sit on Santa’s lap is a bad thing to do, but that alone is unlikely to lead to passive victimhood. It takes years of programming to do that. Professional Santas don’t get cozy with the kiddies anymore. With a baby or toddler, they have to make sure they don’t drop them but I’ve noticed they treat most kids pretty gingerly. Last year, I passed by and saw that, with COVID, children weren’t allowed any contact at all. For the picture, Santa stood off to the side.