By Chloe Patterson

Valentine’s Day used to be about sharing your feelings openly and being creative to make the other person happy. It used to be  a symbolic day from love and affection. But Batavia High Schoolers have another idea to spend their time and money.

When Valentine’s Day first started in the middle ages people would throw everything they had to do aside and focus on making that one day special. People threw a St. Valentine’s feast in the middle of February. People who threw them had a goal to “christianize” the people who worshipped different gods. Valentine’s Day back then was filled with many rituals that surrounded the idea of love and family. One of the rituals was all of the single women would place their names in a big vase. Then, all of the single men in the city would draw a name out of the vase and be with them for a year. Often these dates would turn into something bigger, like marriage.

It wasn’t until the 17th century until that Valentine’s Day became popular in the United States. By the middle of the 18th century,  it became common for friends and loved ones to give another person little things to show love and handwritten notes.  

Today’s students don’t try to change anyone’s religion and they don’t place their names in any type of bowl. They would rather spend their time alone or with close friends. Students don’t want to waste their time going out and buying a gift and making a large ordeal about how they feel for another individual. The only people that are planning to go out on a date are the people who are in relationships with another person. Students don’t want to expand their social abilities and go out with a new person that they don’t see a future with. Also, they don’t want to spend their money going out when they can spend it on themselves.  

When I asked students at Batavia only 12 out of 40 were going out on a date while 19 were hanging out with friends. The most common response from students was that they wanted to spend their time in an environment where they don’t have to worry about dressing up or saying the wrong thing. Instead, they are spending it with people that they know they can have a good time with and where they can feel comfortable.

Only three out of 40 people were spending Valentine’s Day alone. The minority decided to stay home and spend their time eating cheap chocolate and watching sad romantic classics. Who cares if you are spending the day with someone else. These people don’t care about what Valentine’s Day is really about.

Valentine’s Day is a day set aside to show your love for another person, at least that’s what it used to be. Nowadays, Valentine’s Day is spending quality time with the people that remind you that you don’t really need a special someone. When Valentine’s Day just started it was all about only spending time with one individual and focusing their love and attention on them.

The times have changed and Valentine’s Day is an example of it. People used to go out with a person that they liked just to go out. They would put everything they had into this special day, but now kids see it differently. Is there a problem with that? Absolutely not, there will be another time down the road that you actually want to do something special for. People back then gave their feelings more towards others, even when they weren’t happy with themselves. People today look out for themselves and hid their feelings for others. Valentine’s Day is changed but in a way that more people can enjoy it.