Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate the love you have for your friends, family and partners. Some do this by giving small gifts and trinkets, others make the day all about quality time. As we go from elementary to high school, we see how the holiday has changed, especially between who celebrates it together. 

In elementary schools, students are encouraged to decorate a cardboard box or a paper bag and make it unique to them and their interests. Then, at the class holiday party, their classmates will pass out the store bought valentines they have prepared for each other. After that, the students take part in various party activities, such as watching a movie, playing fun games and eating snacks. At the end of the day, they get to look inside their bags at all of their goodies and go wild.

In high school, Valentine’s Day is just another day. No bags to decorate, no valentines to hand out and no class party. Instead, we have to worry about maintaining our grades and social status without enjoying passed out goodies.

In elementary school, friendship was the focus of the holiday and in high school it’s about who’s dating who. Friends are no longer the top priority.

“The students are able to enjoy each other’s company and have fun in a nonacademic setting.  There are a variety of activities, so there is usually something for everyone,” elementary school teacher Beth Betts said.

While enjoyable for many, class parties can cause more harm than good. They can disrupt the other classes near them, take away valuable learning time and force guardians to spend money on treats. In high school, these downsides wouldn’t be as prevalent. 

“They require families to spend money on Valentines and food, drinks [and] craft supplies if they volunteer to donate items to the classroom,” Betts said. “This may not be possible for all families.”

High schoolers would be able to use their own money to purchase whatever treats they want, taking away that burden from their parents.

High schoolers are so caught up with homework, sports, clubs and other activities that sometimes there is no time for them to take a breath and have a small break. There needs to be a break from the routine, and right after finals and the start of a new semester is the perfect time.

“Students get a chance to relax from the rigor of the academic school day, try a craft or game that may be new and exciting to them,” Betts said.

We as high schoolers already have a time built into our schedules that could serve as this break, homeroom. Often held for the benefit of one grade and not the whole school, over half of students are sitting doing nothing. Other times, homeroom seems to be held for no reason at all, everyone collectively sitting around doing nothing for 40 minutes. 

During one of these times, a class party could be held, giving students time to be in a low pressure environment where their assignments aren’t hanging over their heads before continuing on with their school day. This in turn would promote a sense of community amongst the students, strengthening bonds and increasing socialization between the students who are going to be stuck with each other for four years of their life. 

“I miss having Valentine’s day parties,” junior Eden Lutz said. “In elementary school [they were] so fun and something I looked forward to.”