Is Christmas getting too Commercialized?

By DEVAN PALESCHIC

Staff Writer

Ask almost any child today what their favorite aspect of the holiday season is and they will tell you it is the presents they are going to get. It seems that every year people are increasingly becoming more obsessed with the commercialized Christmas our society has created rather than focusing on what Christmas should really be about.

Although Christmas is a religious holiday, many people do not celebrate it as so, and if you do not that is your choice, but I feel that Christmas should not be just about gifts. To me the holiday season is more about taking the time to appreciate the people you get to spend that time with. I personally think that the holidays should be a time when people put aside the differences they have to get together and enjoy what they do have.

Society has let Christmas become commercialized by big companies urging people to go out and shop to purchase their items that they call “the best gift of year”. As soon as we get later into the fall season our television sets are bombarded with commercials urging people to go out and start their Christmas shopping. When I see these commercials come on television I automatically change the channel or turn off the TV because I find it to be annoying.

People today are more concerned about spending money at Christmas, wanting to top the gifts they gave out the year before. People use Christmas as an excuse to impress people, buying them the most expensive or top of the line products out on the shelf. Men want get their significant others the most expensive jewelry that they can afford because they believe that is what is expected of them at Christmas.

People have gotten trapped into feeling that it is an obligation to get gifts for everyone. People with a large family are often given a guilt trip if they buy gifts for certain members of the family but not others. This could become a problem if someone comes from a large family and has many siblings who have a lot of children.

Stores play into the fact that people have become so obsessed with spending money at Christmas. You could walk into any mall and it seems that they have skipped right over other holidays and put their Christmas things right in the front windows. Santa Clause now often appears in the mall even before Thanksgiving has passed.

The worst part of all of this is the effect the commercialization of this holiday has on children. Sure kids have always been excited about coming down the stairs on Christmas morning to see the gifts under the tree, but today they automatically become disappointed if the pile of gifts isn’t enormous. Children go into Christmas with such high expectations that they are going to get every gift that they ask for, when that is not what they should be so concerned about.

I feel that people should be a lot less focused on the gifts they are getting but rather should care most about the atmosphere they create.  A person’s main focus during the holiday should be to make the area around them filled with a happy atmosphere. Christmas should be a stress free time that is filled with an abundance of laughter and memories being made.

When I was a child I loved being able to spend the holiday with my extended family, spending time around the dinner table catching up was what I was most happy about. That is what the holiday should truly be about. Everyone should turn away from the commercialized Christmas that is being forced upon our society, and celebrate it for what it really is.