Since the 14th century, Valentine’s Day has been celebrated on Feb. 14 as a day of love and romance, often celebrated by exchanging gifts.
According to Britannica, Valentine’s Day originated as a Christian feast day celebrating the martyr St. Valentine, but it has since become a popular cultural and commercial celebration of love worldwide.
“I like Valentine’s Day because I celebrate it with my friends and we give each other small things,” freshman Tony Kitherian said. “I don’t think Valentine’s Day is overrated because you can still get stuff from it, so it’s not fully bad.”
Based on Statista, around 52% of U.S. adults planned on celebrating Valentine’s Day in 2023, a decline in U.S. adults celebrating the holiday from 63% in 2007.
“I think Valentine’s Day is overrated because you don’t have to be doing all that lovey-dovey stuff,” freshman P.K. Nimako said. “I don’t like Valentine’s Day because of that.”
Typical Valentine’s Day traditions include exchanging cards or giving gifts such as candy, roses, chocolate and other memorabilia.
“I like Valentine’s Day because I can get candy from it,” freshman Sibani Anbumani said. “I don’t think Valentine’s Day is overrated because it’s just a holiday like any other.”
To celebrate the holiday at school, Leadership is selling flower grams in the cafeteria for $2 from Feb. 5 to Feb. 9, and delivering them on Feb. 14. The flowers are also color coordinated so students can appreciate the multiple types of relationships in their lives: red is significant other, pink is crush, white is friend.
“I think Valentine’s Day should be more focused on because love is the most important thing in the world,” freshman Varun Kishore said.
Based off of Oberlo, the U.S. public spent $25.9 billion celebrating the holiday in 2023. This is the second highest amount of money spent on Valentine’s Day, the most was $27.4 billion in 2020.
“I think Valentine’s Day is celebrated the right amount because it’s not just for couples, it could also be for other people just to spread love,” Anbumani said.
