VALENTINE’S DAY

Just when you thought the holidays were over, February slowly starts to approach and before you know it you are last minute shopping for chocolates and Valentine’s Day cards to get for your loved ones.

Every year on February 14 people celebrate Valentine’s Day by exchanging cards, candy, or flowers with their special “valentine.” We celebrate this day to show appreciation for what our loved ones have done for us and something as simple as a card can help uplift someone’s mood. The whole idea of Valentine’s Day is to reflect on past relationships and celebrate love.

Students used to be able to bring gifts on Valentine’s Day to school. Now they are unable to, which has caused students to feel unhappy and upset. When asked why students are unable to bring gifts to school Karen Blumner, an Assistant Principal, said that the school handbook says that bringing in gifts is just not allowed. Yet, it does not explain why celebration items including balloons, flowers, cakes, cupcakes, and stuffed animals are considered banned items.

If students are not allowed to bring gifts on Valentine’s Day then it seems hypocritical to allow the French Honor Society to sell gift bags, teddy bears, and roses to students, since this goes against the school’s policy. If the school can not follow their own policy then they can not expect students to do the same. Lisa Raiford, the Assistant Principal said that the school does not do any deliveries like chocolates or boxes of donuts because the school is trying to prevent allergies. But if a student decides to bring a box of donuts for the class and for some reason a kid is allergic, they can just simply not eat it.

The school needs to let kids choose what they want to celebrate and if that means bringing a box of chocolates to celebrate the holiday. Then it should not be frowned upon. Daniel Reynoso, a sophomore said, “I don’t care. I’m still gonna bring chocolates for my friends. It’s really not that deep.” Preventing students from bringing in gifts on Valentine’s Day is not going to stop students from bringing in gifts because students will regardless.

“I don’t know why they let them stop bringing gifts, but as for the candy I think they’ll still let you bring them. But not to class because you have to bring it to the front office,” said Brenda Mitchell, the Student Services Secretary. The staff at Suncoast does not seem to know exactly why students are unable to bring gifts, other than the fact that it says we are not allowed to, in the school handbook. But let us be honest, no one is going to take the time to read the school handbook to see whether or not students are allowed to bring gifts on a holiday, it just seems ridiculous.

And If we were to bring gifts would we get in trouble? “No if they catch you most of the time they’ll tell you to bring it to the office. The kids can come down and look at it, but they can’t get it until the end of the day,” said Mitchell.

Valentine’s Day began to be utilized by individuals to express their emotions to those they cherished. And the purpose of Valentine’s Day is only love. But the school is not showing love to its students and they do not have a valid reason for placing the unnecessary ban of bringing in gifts to celebrate this day.