At least the Teacher is smarter then the Note sent Home

So the Elf on the Shelf is present within my son's kindergarten class.  However, the elf, named Presents, is not reporting back to Santa as normally used in the original intent of the product.
He does mischievous things each night around the classroom and the children have to determine what he did and then that afternoon a writing team is chosen to write a note to Presents asking him what behaviours not to repeat because they aren't appropriate for school.

This I think is a brilliant idea.  It gets the children to observe their surroundings, correctly identify appropriate behaviour versus not appropriate behaviour and works on their writing skills as they send messages to the elf to advise him on what better choices in behaviour he should make and what he can and cannot do.

Though the note home does not state anything of the sort.  It states the elf, Presents, is there to report back to Santa who is being naughty and who is being caring, sharing and honest.

So you can see why I had a lot of misgivings about the introduction of the Elf on the Shelf into the classroom.

They really need to work on their written communication skills, because they have failed several times now sending notes home that say one thing when they really mean another.

What People Do in Their Own homes is One Thing, A Classroom is Entirely Different.

Elf on the Shelf.

I hate it.  I don't like the concept.  I don't think it is cute. I think it sends the WRONG message entirely during a period of time that is already hard enough to be a kid during.
The excitement and stress of the on coming holiday season that children face does not need to be augmented and placed under an extra special magnifying glass all in the name of Santa Claus and unrealistic behaviour expectations.

So for those of you who are saying to yourself the same thing I said to myself last year when I first heard the term "Elf on the Shelf" it is a book that comes with an elf.  The idea is that the elf has been sent by Santa to keep an extra special eye on the kid(s) to ensure that Santa has a full report of who is being naughty or nice. The link below explains it plainly:
http://www.elfontheshelf.com/content/about-us


I don't get why we focus the last 4-5 weeks leading into Christmas on forcing children to meet a standard of behaviour we don't expect of them otherwise the rest of the year.
Kids are going to act out more as Christmas approaches due to the stress they are picking up from us, because let's face it the majority of us are tight for money, then there is the stress of getting all the family together, the kids not being in school and being bored  because they are at home AND of course the excitement of Christmas in general.

So why do we draw a HUGE magnifying glass onto this period of time and bully are children into behaving so that Santa will come and therefore bribing them to behave.

The smart ones will figure out Santa will come regardless of behaviour in the long run anyhow.

And then there are the poor souls like my son, who suffer from impulse control issues from his ADHD and are already overly anxious because he feels incredibly badly when ever he fails to adhere to the social norms of the classroom.

Imagine what Elf on the Shelf does to children like my son.

Now take that into a kindergarten classroom.

Where he is daily struggling with following the routine and rules of the room.
And now he is being told that this stupid Elf is reporting back to Santa and telling Santa he is naughty and he isn't going to get anything for Christmas.  No the teachers won't say that, but they read the book to the class which implies the message.  It's the kids in his class who will.  They already tease and goad him about his behaviour, of course they why wouldn't they goad him with this too?

How fair is that?

And I am sure he isn't the only child in his class facing the same issues, BUT he is one of the kids in his class the others have targeted because he reacts every single time.

I am not okay with the Elf on the Shelf being placed in ANY classroom be it kindergarten, preschool etc.

What you do with your own children in your own homes is entirely up to you.  Don't force a group of 24+ kids to conform to one line of thinking.  Especially if it going to be detrimental to children's self esteem and cause them undue stress that wouldn't otherwise occur.