Community High School

Valentine’s Day

“Joel asked me out a day after he dumped his old girlfriend, but I waited to say no until the day after he asked. I couldn’t wait any longer,” recalls Natalie, an 8th grader who has had at least 7 boyfriends. But this boy is the winner, according to her. “Now I have a Valentine!” she says. Although she has spent between 2 days to 2 months with each of these special boys, she’s never had a Valentine on the actual day. 

“This is my first one!” she says excitedly, “I don’t usually pay attention to Valentines Day, but I do this year.”

Natalie has watched for years as her friends have had valentines, receiving gifts such as rings, necklaces, chocolates, a giant candy heart, and a singing frog. This year is different year though. She is one of only two girls, or maybe 3, “if Nondi and Dondez get back together,” that will have a boy to smother her with gifts. Although she has no idea what presents Joel has in mind for her, “I want something that shows he knows me well,” she admits.

This day of love has become quite popular among middle schoolers. Some kids’ happiness depends on whether or not they have someone special on the day. At first Natalie claims that “Valentines Day is like a Hallmark holiday; it doesn’t really matter.” But on second thought, she realizes that “If we broke up before then, I would probably get really depressed on Valentines Day.”

While middle schoolers could be worrying about school work or preparing for high school, they are busy preparing for and worrying about Valentines Day- all year long. The drama in middle school is already so abundant, it seems as though they don’t need the drama of this day. But in the back of most of their minds, they know it’s fun and worth it if they can scramble to find someone special (or at least semi-special) by February 14th.