‘Tis the season to be jolly, but it might not be unless you’re celebrating Christmas. Over the years, most of the holidays seem to be disappearing as Christmas becomes more associated with winter and the holiday season. Every year you hear less about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and more about St. Nick climbing down the chimney on Christmas Eve.

Just driving around town can prove that Christmas is coming to dominate the holiday season,  as you will be sure to see pictures of Santa Clause, reindeer, Christmas trees, and other representations. This is also shown by solicitors as all sales end on December 25th. It is likely to see posters and advertisements that promotes all the great Christmas shopping opportunities at different stores; but posters saying what great gifts you can get for Hanukkah are yet to be seen. Even at school it is apparent that Christmas is the favored celebration. With the assignments on Christmas related topics, Secret Santa, and all the mentioning of Christmas break, it is evident that this holiday is coming to dominate the winter season. Not only that, the majority of movies are Yuletide related making it more popular, causing the other holidays to be forgotten. This becomes very confusing for young kids who celebrate other traditions. When these students go to school, they only hear about Christmas and they are not taught about their own religious celebrations. Students are only shown Christmas traditions which also causes them to forget about their own holiday customs, and causes further loss in the traditions of other holidays.

 “I believe that Christmas is coming to dominate the holiday season because I never hear about any of the other winter holidays. I also see many more Christmas decorations than any of the other winter holiday decorations,” said freshman Jonathon Grindell.

However, representations of other December holidays can be seen by decorations on the houses of those that celebrate Kwanzaa or Hanukkah. Many school choirs will have their students sing songs that are related to many of the various holidays that are celebrated in December. A lot of people also know about these holidays and some teachers will assign projects about these different religions to teach students about different cultures and traditions, but good mint of people still believe that their winter holiday is being downplayed compared to Christmas.

“Due to the fact that this country is built on Christian society, so more people will celebrate Christmas making it likely  to be seen more. Many people also forget that while Christmas is the dominant winter holiday in this country, in other countries it is the minority while some other holidays that are the minority here are more popular in that country,” said freshman Jordan Armour-Foster.

Many people think that the domination of Christmas is unfortunate, as we need to remember all the holidays whether or not we celebrate them. It is important to recognize all celebrations and cultures, so that we can understand each other and our different views. Many other people contradict the view that the other winter holidays are disappearing. Most people say that Christmas is advertised more because the majority of people in America are Christians, therefore more people celebrate Christmas. The people who celebrate the other December holidays say that their religion is represented less because of the smaller population that celebrates these holidays. Many others still believe that their religious holidays are shown just as well as Christmas. These religious minorities point out symbols of Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, etc. are all over, you just need to look a little harder. They also mention that plenty of other religious symbols, like the Menorah and the Dreidel, are sold in many stores, like Macy’s and Party City. You can visit Party City’s website here, and some great discounts on their many party items here!

A lot of people say that Christmas is coming to dominate the holiday season, but just as many may refute this opinion, it is very important that we acknowledge all holidays. Several may agree that the other holidays aren’t being forgotten. For every symbol of Christmas there is bound to be one symbol of another holiday as well. As the next generation, it is important that we celebrate these winter traditions more, so that we can make sure that all cultures are recognized.