Once again it’s Christmas time, the most festive time of the year as some would say. But other people have issues with celebrating Christmas, for many reasons. Christmas has changed since Canadians first started celebrating it. In the beginning, it was a holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but now it’s morphed into a time where people are pressured to buy the latest technologies and products. Although a majority of families still celebrate it to have quality family time, the main focus of this holiday is the gifts. Gifts are a thoughtful token of appreciation for a loved one, but now it seems, children are getting greedier and less thankful for what they already have or it’s all about the latest tech toy or gadget. Personally, children under the age of 12 years old should not receive an iPhone as a gift. There’s no reason they should have a phone besides having to contact their parents. Having an iPhone makes them susceptible to social media, which is not good as they’re too young to be using it. Children being exposed to social media could affect their digital footprint as they don’t understand the responsibility that comes along with having accounts.
As Poverty is still a big problem in Canada, when Christmas comes along it gets more difficult for poverty stricken families to have a good time. The pressure to buy the best and latest products affect families who don’t have a lot of wealth and it’s known that a high population of the country goes into credit card debt after buying all of their Christmas presents. It’s an issue that is becoming more prominent due to excessive consumerism.
Another Christmas issue for some is Canada’s ethnic diversity.there are plenty of people who don’t celebrate Christmas due to their own religion or their own desire not to, and that’s perfectly fine. But now there is a trend during the Christmas season to start saying “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas” to respect people who don’t celebrate it. Most people aren’t bothered by it, but some find it problematic. Some people think it isn’t right to change the classic holiday saying “Merry Christmas” just because people don’t celebrate Christmas. As Canada has always celebrated Christmas, it doesn’t seem right to change what’s part of the history and tradition of this country. Instead of making a big deal of what to say, it should just be up to the individual person of what they want to say during the holiday season.
Christmas, or generally just the holiday season, should be about spending time with family and giving back to the community. It shouldn’t matter what it’s called as long as family and friends are getting along. Although giving and receiving gifts is fun, the more gifts kids receive can make them more spoiled. This time of year can be used to teach children the importance of value and appreciating the important things in life.
