Waking up Christmas morning with presents under the tree, without a doubt, is one of the best feelings, according to children. The excitement of getting hardly any sleep on Christmas Eve, the thrill of convincing your parents that you heard Santa and his reindeer on the roof with his sleigh, and the joy of carefully placing a plate of cookies and milk on the table for Santa – each specific moment represents Christmas spirit. Still, Christmas gifts are a popular way of showing love during the holiday season as children grow older and enter high school. As children believe Santa has an infinite amount of gifts in his sleigh with no limits financially, high schoolers would disagree. Whether students work a part-time job, save their money, hand-make their gifts, or receive money from their parents, gift giving remains a popular activity during the holiday season.
The source of gift money varies from student to student; some students have financially stable families, while others work part-time jobs to afford gifts. Budgets for gifts similarly fluctuate depending on financial conditions. Lucy Gibson’s (‘27) financial stability remains moderately high; therefore, her parents provide money for gifts.
“My parents pay for the gifts I get for my friends and my family, which helps a lot because I don’t have any time for a part-time job,” Gibson said.
However, many students work part-time jobs in order to shop for the holiday season. Earning one’s own paycheck creates a sense of independence within high school students, where they learn valuable life skills like financial responsibility. Working a part-time job makes gift giving more thoughtful in terms of spending,
because each gift bought is from money students earned themselves. Caleb Wildey (‘27) works at Holix in Pismo Beach, he works 14-18 hours a week, receiving minimum wage. From working a part-time job, Wildey has learned the importance of saving his paychecks during Christmas.
“Each check I get I save some money for gifts, leaving the rest in my bank account,” Wildey said.
Despite different students’ ways of getting money for gifts, love languages can explain the thoughts behind the gift giving. The concept of love languages is to strengthen people’s relationships, in ways where individuals express their affection differently. Gift giving is arguably one of the most popular love languages, especially during the winter season.
Therefore, many give gifts to their loved ones as a way to show they care, or even show they pay attention to the little things. Gift giving can provide a reflection of how students view others, despite what kind of gift it may be. Many students report they feel joy giving gifts because it shows their loved ones the things they kept in mind, such as items they mentioned throughout the year.
“I give gifts because it’s my love language, it makes me feel good. It also gives a reflection to myself of how I view other people,” Wildey said. “If I give someone a gift, it shows them and myself how much I care about them in a visual way that the other love languages can’t.”
Similarly, other students report how gifts provide an animate and physical way to show their love and care to others.
“One of my top three love languages is definitely gift giving. I like it because I’m a very aware person and I know a lot of things about people. It’s fun to surprise people by giving them something you know they’ve talked about to you before,” Lucy Afsari (‘27) said.
However, gifts don’t always have to be purchased in stores in the mall, or even online. In fact, students find hand-made gifts just as thoughtful to give to their loved ones during the holidays. The stress of giving a gift to someone students might not know on a deep personal level makes the activity of giving for the holidays less enjoyable. Therefore, DIY gifts are a great way to show someone you care while also benefiting yourself in a psychological aspect. Gift giving activates the dopamine systems in the brain, releasing oxytocin, essentially meaning that it links to trustworthiness. Therefore, the act of creating something artsy impacts students by making them feel happier. (MUD/WTR)
“I really like to go to CVS, make a ton of prints, and make a collage of me and a friend,” Afsari said.
Students reveal that hand-made gifts show someone they care on a deeper personal level, as they’re making something they spent a lot of time on rather than a lot of money on.
“I made my friend a blanket one year, it took me weeks to crochet it and perfect every detail. She mentioned it that year so I thought I’d just make it,” Wildey said.
Consumerism and conformity in America is another aspect to gift giving being so popular during the holiday season. Trends on social media platforms bring attention to certain products every Christmas, skyrocketing
specific types of gifts every year. Just like how teens conform to online trends such as clothes, shoes, makeup etc., they similarly conform to buying certain gifts that are popular during the time.
As of Christmas 2024, popular gifts included the Laneige Lip Balms, Sol De Janeiro Brazilian Icons Duo Set, Bubble moisturizer, Rhode peptide lip tint, Jellycats, Adidas Gazelle Sneakers, Uggs, etc. (Byrdie).
“I feel like there’s so much consumerism in America where everyone on social media wants the same thing, so then it starts a big trend online. I feel like I conform to [trends] when buying gifts because my friends want what’s popular,” Afsari said.
Ultimately, high school students navigate the transition from children believing in Santa and all of his wonders, to handling more responsibilities with gift giving without Santa’s help. From exploring how students manage budgets, some with part time jobs, and the thoughtfulness of giving to loved ones, Christmas spirit and magic haven’t vanished, but rather grown and matured. The thrill of convincing your parents you heard Santa on the roof has transformed to managing a paycheck in order to buy a friend a thoughtful gift. Whether students purchase a trending gift, or hand-make a gift such as a crochet blanket, it’s clear that the Christmas spirit through gifts has endured throughout students’ maturity.
