WARNING: This article should not be read by children. I repeat, this article should not be read by children. Why? Because childhood is getting shorter and shorter and should be wrapped in magic for as long as possible.

Professor Dawkins, who you may have seen on TV poo pooing anything that's not rooted in reality (therefore all forms of religion, spiritualism, and anything that basically might get you through the day), recently appeared that the Cheltenham Science Festival to declare that fairy tales are bad for children. They "inculcate a view of the world which includes supernaturalism" and therefore possibly aren't productive.

Obviously that's not all he said: "Is it a good thing to go along with the fantasies of childhood, magical as they are? Or should we be fostering a spirit of scepticism? I think it's rather pernicious to inculcate into a child a view of the world which includes supernaturalism - we get enough of that anyway. Even fairy tales, the ones we all love, with wizards or princesses turning into frogs or whatever it was. There’s a very interesting reason why a prince could not turn into a frog - it's statistically too improbable."

SNORE. It's called "escapism" and childhood is the only time we're allowed indulge in it. Extreme adult versions of escapism involve either potential trips to rehab or getting addicted to Game of Thrones.

It'll come as little surprise that Dawkins questioned Santa and his existence at the age of 21 months. Not even 2-years-old.

Independent.ie reports that "his mother had written down an early encounter with Santa. 'There was a man called Sam who came as Father Christmas, all 'ho ho ho'. All the children were enthralled by this. Then he left, I piped up much to the consternation of the adults, 'Sam's gone."

BAM, so's your childhood, yaaay.

All that aside, it seems Dawkins was "taken out of context" by the press, which never happens.