This is Spitfire, a style of head-to-head debates between The Accolade’s two Opinion editors. As the first print edition, a shortened version is included in the Friday, Feb. 14, Accolade magazine issue. So for this online version, Kayden’s comments will be red. Aashna will be purple.
PREVIOUSLY ON SPITFIRE: The two Opinion editors went head-to-head about whether conceptual pieces should be considered valid art forms or not. As of Tuesday, Feb. 11, voters determined that, for the first time in Spitfire history, Dialani and Kim are at a tie. Tensions are higher than ever –– who will win this time? One thing’s for sure: they’re both about to spit FIRE.
Here are the rules:
- No profanity.
- An editor attacked by the other will be given three sentences to respond.
- The readers will decide who wins through a poll on the online website.
- Once a rule is broken, the debate ends.
Since the 14th century, Feb. 14 has been a day dedicated to celebrating love. It’s pretty much already a celebration for couples, and we should take the final step to make Valentine’s Day an official holiday. To make this happen, it would take approval from Congress and our president in the executive branch. This is worth advocating for because as The Beatles once sang, “All you need is love!”
There’s nothing wrong with a celebration, but “as the Beatles once sang,” let’s just “Let it be” and leave Feb. 14 to the couples. Instead of adding even more flair to the day with nauseating pink hearts, I’d rather keep it the way it is. According to research presented by the Handbook of Adolescent Psychology, high school relationships typically last six months for 16-year-olds and about a year for 17 and 18-year-olds; promoting Valentine’s Day to the extent of an official holiday is only further supporting a futile relationship.
Like Kanye West, I was “Never much of a romantic,” but making Valentine’s Day an official holiday is more than just promoting high school couples. Plus, even if it’s short, high school relationships can help students mature and grow as people. With a nationally declining rate of natural increase, maybe officiating the holiday could show the world that America takes love seriously, considering our pre-established notion of Valentine’s chocolates and letters.
Show the world? I don’t want to come off as some kind of Valentine’s Day Scrooge, but a day off will take precious time off education or work just for people to celebrate romance, which arguably everyone can find time for eventually. Instead of making yet another three-day weekend in February, the school could just host a Valentine’s Day Spectacular for both friends who would like to make memories with each other and couples who would like to engage in those stomach-churning, lovey-dovey activities.
Yeah, a school event is a great idea, but a day off would be better to dedicate 24 hours for couples who don’t have enough time in their day-to-day lives to spend time together. Again, this is a holiday older than America itself and judging by the annual appearances of heart-shaped candies in aisles of grocery stores, it finds its roots deeply embedded in our capitalist society. You might think it’ll just unhealthily promote teen relationships, but high school is a time to prepare for the future, and since every day of the week is for work/school, giving people time to spend with their Valentines and work on love is something that’ll become very important to them in the near future.
I’m not saying that it’s necessarily bad, but when high school is a time to prepare for the future like you said, a relationship might make them think irrationally. Finding someone to share your life with and enjoy little moments with is undoubtedly important, but it should not be prioritized so early on in our lives as it has the ability to distract us from our goals. Once we find out who we want to become as people and make wise decisions about who we want to do that with, Valentine’s Day doesn’t need a special mark on the calendar because every day is then filled with love.
Corny, but good point. But you should keep in mind that for the lonely few struggling to find that love, Feb. 14 might become a day to actively pursue that part of their lives – the time off can help singles meet other people looking for companionship, or long-distance couples can take the time to meet and catch up. Plus, I’m sure other students want an excuse to have one less day of school. I know I do.
Because of the violation of rule No. 2, Spitfire ends by default. Who do you think is right? Click on Aashna’s or Kayden’s image to declare your winner.
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