A government website which advised teachers to be wary of terrifying children with visits to Santa and to urge children not to send Christmas cards or wrap their presents, has been forced to withdraw its advice. Teachernet, which is a Department of Education website offering advice and other resources to teachers across the UK, had featured an article in which the horrors of panto and other Christmas traditions were revealed to unsuspecting teachers.

'For very young children, Father Christmas can be terrifying,' warned the website. 'If you are planning a visit from Santa, you'll need to make sure that fearful children are near an exit. Trips to the pantomime can cause alarm, so the same planning applies.' The site went on to advice head teachers to hold school assemblies with the subject 'The Aftermath of Christmas' where pupils pretend to open presents and ditch the wrapping on the floor to highlight the wasteful festive season.

Unsurprisingly, the website's grinch-like approach to Christmas has been roundly denounced. Margaret Morrissey, from the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, said, 'It is so sad that we have become so politically correct that we are trying to remove the magic of Christmas. For the majority of young children Christmas is magical. I think it is wicked if schools should try to deprive children of that.'

The article was taken off the website by Department of Education officials who said; 'We fully support the traditional British Christmas. This is not Government policy and was not produced by the department as the disclaimer on the site makes clear. We have withdrawn it as it does not reflect our views.'

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