PHOTO BY N. FEWINGS VIA UNSPLASH.COM

Originally published January 21, 2025

    There are numerous aspects behind everything, holidays included. A few of the main aspects behind a major holiday, Valentine’s Day, are the financial part, the historic part, and the relationship part.

   The history behind Valentine’s day is quite mysterious, yet very interesting nonetheless.

   The history is unknown with no certain and exact origin. Although the most popular theory is that it was based off the legend of St. Valentine. 

   “A stock explanation of the holiday is that a Christian priest in Rome, named Valentine, who conducted marriage ceremonies for soldiers forbidden by the state, was arrested as part of the Roman persecution of Christians,” according to Armstronginstitute.com. 

   In jail, he healed the jailer’s daughter and wrote her a note titled, ‘Your Valentine’ before being executed on February 14 c.e. (common era). Two centuries later, it is said that a pope named him a saint and marked February 14 a holiday.

   Even though this explanation may make sense, there is still very little historic evidence that proves any of it, leaving this holiday clouded in mystery. 

   Everyday people spend money, especially on holidays. Valentine’s Day is one of the most expensive holidays. This provides many strong and diverse opinions.

   According to nrf.com, “Overall, consumers planned to spend $25.8 billion on Valentine’s Day this year — an average of $185.81 per person, according to the annual survey by NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics.” To put this in perspective, from researchmaniacs.com, $25.8 billion could buy you 129,000 houses if they were $200 thousand each.

   “I think that’s too much,” seventh-grade math teacher Mrs. Kemp said. “I think that money could be spent doing better things.”

   Kemp expressed having small trinkets falling into the landfills every year should not be a staple of Valentine's Day, it should be how couples meaningfully showed each other their love. 

   “It’s just a day. I don’t see why they can’t just show each other love instead of just buying gifts,” eighth-grader Benjamin Benson said.

   The Love Aspect:

   Traditionally, to celebrate Valentine’s Day, you ask someone you like to be your valentine, and give them gifts like chocolate, flowers, and plushies. Although, over time it has changed and focused differently than it previously did.

   Today, this holiday is commonly celebrated with just your friends, and you don’t have to be in a relationship to celebrate.

   “I think that you don’t need to be in a relationship to participate in Valentine’s Day. You could do it with your friends or your family, and give them gifts to show your appreciation,” seventh-grader Asha Linn said. 

   Nonetheless, some may still think that they need to be in a relationship, even though they don’t necessarily do, which could put a lot of pressure on students. 

   “It’s a lot to deal with and it’s too much pressure to get a bunch of stuff for someone else, and you should be focusing on yourself,” sixth-grader Jagger Tranberg said.

   Although Valentine's Day has many parts, the most important part is to keep in mind what Valentine's Day is truly about. 

   "I think [Valentine's Day] should be more about friendship, it can be about love but honestly in middle school how long is that going to last," Kemp said.