As a parent of young children, I have recently come to know that lots of people find it acceptable to lie ("not telling the absolute truth") to children about all kinds of subjects. It is not only that they don't tell them there is no Santa Claus, they actually tell them that Santa Claus exists when children believe it's only a story, and they tell them that it is Santa Claus who gives them presents in Christmas. People tell 5 year old children that "if Mom and Dad really want it, a baby will appear inside Mom's belly". I once heard a Kindergarten "teacher" (can't find the right English word) telling a 3 year old that the broken tail of a plastic cow would grow again. I wonder if all this lying is acceptable? Perhaps there are some empirical, non philosophical issues here (how do children react to coming to know the truth about these things, and to coming to know that adults lied to them?; will this predispose children to lie when they grow?), but even if there are no bad distant consequences to this kind...

I am curious to know what philosophers have said, existentialists in particular, about raising children or procreation. I am seeing a few problems in these things such as: At what point does the child/dependent have freedom? Is it immoral to procreate if/when you know that you are in control of another beings existence and essence? What duties or obligations to parents have to their children and vice versa? Any feedback would be great, I have heard that de Beauvoir has a little say on the subject as does Wollstonecraft (though I have not found more than a handful of pages). In addition to existentialists, in general ethics I think a relevant question would also touch on the issue of overpopulation. Any feedback would be very helpful, even a simple list of texts/authors would shed some light. Thank you.