As far as American holidays go, Thanksgiving is often overlooked; some may even say we should get rid of it all together. “What about Thanksgiving break?”, people ask. Usually for our days off we get the day before and after Thanksgiving, and then the weekend. But why not the whole week? Others also ask, “Well, why do people want Christmas first instead of Thanksgiving?” At Clear Creek Amana High School, 16 students were surveyed about Thanksgiving.
The 16 high school students were asked the following three questions: “Should Thanksgiving break be longer, or shorter?”, “Do you think that Thanksgiving should be celebrated as a holiday, and why?”, and “Why do you think Thanksgiving is so overlooked?”
The responses for the first question were very split; some thought Thanksgiving break should be longer and others thought it is good as it is. Two people in particular that gave contrasting answers were Sky Mitchell, who said “I feel as though it is a decent length due to us having a longer winter break as well as spring break.” and Sydney Emmel, who said “I think the break should be longer because a lot of families travel long distances over the break and teachers like to save the tests until the week of Thanksgiving which really dapens[dampens] the holiday spirit.”. While Mitchell thinks the Thanksgiving break is perfectly timed, Emmel has considered the thought that some families travel and that this Thanksgiving break is just not long enough for all the festivities.
Out of the 16 people in the survey, these two answered the second question very similarly. “It should be celebrated as a holiday because it is very special to other people.”said Neema Bawinja, or “Yes because it is a good time to remember what you’re grateful for and it’s a really nice chance to see family you wouldn’t normally see”, said Sydney Emmel.
On the last question everyone agreed that Christmas was the main reason that Thanksgiving is overlooked. A response that showcases this is Marcus Coleman’s response, which states “It’s right before Christmas, which is celebrated a lot more.”. Coleman and many other people feel that Thanksgiving is over shadowed compared to the thought-superior holiday, Christmas.
Thanksgiving is one of the most overlooked holidays we have because “you don’t get presents,” or “all you do is eat” but in reality, Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays there is. Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family and look back on such great memories that you have had. Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful for what you have because many people don’t have as much as you and others. But hopefully everyone who celebrates has Thanksgiving to bring the whole family together.