by Matt McAnally, Senior

As December approaches, many debate the correct time to begin decorating for the holidays. A completely correct answer may not exist, but the most popular answer may act as a substitute for a concrete answer for this question.

In a survey covering only the students and staff in PHS, the 79 respondents can be used to approximate the thoughts and opinions about this topic for everyone in the High School. The options for this survey regarding when decorations were put up were as follows: Before Halloween; Before Thanksgiving, but after Halloween; and After Thanksgiving. On top of this, the survey collected information about grade level and any reasons why they answered how they did.

The first and earliest option for when to start decorating, Before Halloween, received 0 responses. Most people seemed to enjoy decorating for Halloween, some even calling it their favorite holiday, which explains why there were no responses that decorated before Halloween.

The second option, Before Thanksgiving, but after Halloween, received 25 responses, or 31.6% of the votes. These responses emphasized their love for holiday decorations and how they make them feel happy when they are put up. Because of this, many people want to have them up earlier in order to keep them up as long as possible. This point is shown particularly by one response by a staff member stating, “the earlier I put my decorations up, the more time my family and I have to enjoy them”, along with many others stating similar reasoning. Other less common reasoning found throughout the responses for answering this way included the belief that the holiday season starts as soon as Halloween ends or soon thereafter, getting the stress of decorating out of the way sooner rather than later, and combining Thanksgiving and the holidays as a joint holiday season.

The third option, After Thanksgiving, received the most responses at 52 or 65.8% of the votes. Most of these responses emphasized the need or desire to celebrate each holiday separately and one at a time. One senior’s response seemed to encompass these 52 respondents’ thoughts perfectly when they said, “If you put up your decorations before Thanksgiving, you are disrespecting the Holiday”, emphasizing the need to respect each holiday rather than only the more popular ones. Other responses mentioned celebrating each holiday one at a time, one freshman exclaiming, “Thanksgiving’s a holiday too!” A staff member also summarizes the thoughts of many who picked this answer by responding that celebrating each holiday separately helps us to think about the real meaning behind each one, rather than mixing them or not thinking about them at all. Less common, but equally as important responses include having decorations for Thanksgiving, not allowing them to decorate for the holidays before Thanksgiving itself is over, and not trying to rush through each season, wanting to enjoy each holiday. 

The remaining 2.5% choose not to put up any holiday decorations; however, neither of the two responses gave any reasoning.