Let's look at Easter. There are two main games children play on this holiday (egg hunts and basket hunting). These games, while rudimentary at the least, are a signature part of Easter. Children look forward to the hidden basket full of candy all year, and are truly excited to go searching for it Easter morning. Egg hunts, for example, have competition, prizes, a time component, a setting, etc, culminating in a fast-paced, exciting game for little kids and adults.
With such excitement over games like this, I can't help but wonder....are there games in holidays, or are the holidays themselves games? We also have to wonder, how much importance are we putting on these holiday games? Yesterday my 13-year-old sister asked my mother why Friday is called "Good Friday" (we obviously don't go to church very much), yet she knew that her day would be filled with searching for candy. Likewise, the parents in the video above have put so much attention on the egg hunt, it was canceled due to aggressiveness. Are these mainstream, traditional games really adding to the experience of the religious holidays, or are they detracting?
Perhaps we need to ask ourselves if such holidays are truly religious anymore. While the date (generally) is of religious significance, the holidays seem to be getting farther and farther away from their true meanings. If society looked at these days as more cultural games, would it be more politically correct to incorporate them into schools? At my school teachers had to call Thanksgiving Break "Fall Break" and Christmas Vacation "Winter Break," so a change of thinking like this could really make an impact on the way schools are run. In relation, many families who I know aren't Christian, still celebrate popular Christian holidays. This supports my thought that maybe holidays are slowly becoming more game-based than religious based. It's something to think about.
I definately see where you're coming from with this post and I agree that holidays are becoming more commercial and social rather than being stricly religous. However I don't think the purpose of these holidays should be changed just because it's being exploited by media and becoming more of a cultural game. I think for people who are reglious they may not agree with that because of course it is religiously based for them. I personally don't think categorization of these holidays need to be changed since for people who are not religious it can just be a fun day of games but for people who are they will understand the real meaning behind these holidays and appreciate them.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting post and I think a lot of what you have to say is right. I mean lets think about it. People wait on lines for hours and even days to get on line first for the newest item for that holiday season, just to say they were the first ones, like a game. What is interesting for me however is in my case during the holidays, we don't necessarily play the games that each holiday represents. For instance on Hannukah in my family, instead of playing games with a driedel, we end up playing cards. Or on other holidays, me and my cousins will have battles over fantasy baseball or a current game on television. The bottom line is that the reason why holidays all seem to be games is partially because most holidays bring people together. In that respect, games are one of the best ways to bring people together as it gives them a common ground to discuss and focus on together. So, while I still think that most holidays should remain holidays because that is what they primarily are, I don't see a reason why someone should argue if another person chooses to classify these holidays as games.
ReplyDeleteI completely see where you are coming from because my parents always stressed me to the importance of understanding what the holiday is actually about. Although gifts are exciting, it's important to know that there is more to it. I think that the entertainment and the games that go along with holidays can be beneficial, however, because it encourages kids to immerse themselves in the day/holiday. Yes, the games act as an extrinsic reward, but is this really so bad? I think that as long as families instill the core values, the children will still come to appreciate and acknowledge the true meaning behind the holiday when they are older. I know it's sad that what we remember are the games, but at the same time, I remember them as being played with my family. Family is what holidays are really all about to some degree, so that can't be too bad.
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