There seems to be a bit of conflict in society over when the Christmas season should commence.

There is an infinite number of opinions on the topic and people even have differing ideas about when specific parts of the holiday season should start.

Sophia Randall, a sophomore at Dimond, said, “I know some people will hate me for saying this, but I think Christmas should start right after Halloween.”

This opinion is common especially outside of the United States because there is not the Thanksgiving holiday in between Halloween and Christmas.

It can also be encouraged by the stores that put out Christmas decorations soon after Halloween, encouraging people to get in the Christmas spirit and make purchases accordingly.

Senior Jacob Fisher said, “I used to think Christmas should begin on November 15th, but this year I heard Christmas songs on the radio starting the first Sunday of November. Now I kind of think that is when it should start. When the radio starts playing Christmas music, that is when you know it is Christmas time.”

A good portion of people think that the Christmas season should start right after Thanksgiving.

A sophomore at Dimond, Casey Zuke, said, “Christmas for me starts on Black Friday because that’s when the deals are. I just feel like you can’t go past Thanksgiving too quickly to get to Christmas.”

Some people push the commencement of the season back even further, claiming Christmas starts on December first.  

They tend to be of the opinion that if all the Christmas cheer is spread out for too long, it can lose its meaning and overall cheer.

Chloe Asay is a senior who is homeschooled but participates in sports for Dimond.

She said, “I just don’t think there is enough Christmas music to listen to it longer than in December. I get tired of all the songs by the time Christmas gets here anyway, so I think starting earlier would make that even worse.”

Randall said, “Sometimes I listen to Christmas music in July. I just really like it.”

I think that all the banter about when the season of Christmas starts can get in the way of the true spirit of Christmas.

It should not matter to people what someone else listens to in their car or in their house on their own, so getting feisty about Christmas music does not make any sense.

A big part of the modern world is that we can choose what we participate in or what we don’t participate in and this concept should apply to all these debates about Christmas.

I used to think that Christmas could overshadow Thanksgiving in some ways, but now I think that the attitude of gratitude and the spirit of giving that accompany Thanksgiving and Christmas can go hand in hand and even build upon each other.

Perhaps it would be a good idea not to focus on when the music and lights start, but instead on extending the spirit of Christmas throughout the whole year.

This world could use more giving, more loving and more Christmas cheer.