Valentine’s Day is officially in the books for 2025… Unless you were a kid in certain school districts, where Cupid was unceremoniously shown the door.

While millions of students enjoyed a day filled with candy and cards, some educators decided that such traditions were just too much to handle.

Hearts, chocolates and classroom parties?

Too exclusive. Too capitalist. Too joyful!

Instead, administrators across the country replaced Valentine’s Day with vague alternatives like “Friendship Month” and “Kindness Week,” or some other bland, corporate-sounding initiative to ensure no one felt left out.

But why?

According to officials at Indianapolis Public Schools, shifting the focus towards generic “friendship and kindness” themes ensured that students who didn’t grow up celebrating the holiday wouldn’t feel left out.

So rather than letting kids enjoy a carefree day of card-swapping and candy, administrators in Indianapolis axed the holiday, opting for an all-too-common solution: If something has even the slightest chance of offending one person, no one gets to participate.

Their proposed alternative?

A sanitized version of the holiday, complete with “age-appropriate crafting activities” like making friendship bracelets and writing thank-you notes.

Instead of colorful, store-bought cards, kids in Indianapolis were asked to express their feelings through art – because nothing says “I appreciate you” like a school-mandated emotional exercise.

And don’t even think about passing out chocolate or sugary sweets.

Indianapolis schools promoted “healthier snack options” instead. Nothing says “friendship” like a granola bar!

No one is saying elementary school students need to lock down a date for Feb. 14. But they could easily express their gratitude for their classmates throughout the year without canceling a holiday about sharing joy and appreciation.

Valentine’s Day isn’t some high-stakes, romantic event for six or seven-year-olds. It’s an excuse to hand out Pokémon and Barbie cards and eat too much sugar for one hour of the day.

But Indianapolis wasn’t alone in its quest to erase Valentine’s Day from the calendar.

Austin Public Schools in Minnesota also called off Cupid’s big day, claiming it’s part of an effort to be “more considerate and inclusive of all the diverse backgrounds that make up the student body.”

East Lansing Public Schools in Michigan took the same approach, using the inclusive excuse to ditch the holiday.

However, East Lansing Assistant Superintendent Glenn Mitcham assured parents and faculty that Valentine’s Day could “still be incorporated into the curriculum.”

Really?

A school system that’s too afraid of cartoon cards is suddenly going to give kids a history lesson on a Christian feast day honoring a martyr named Valentine.

Another flaw with Mr. Mitcham’s “inclusive” point is that Valentine’s Day is, in fact, a global event.

The holiday is celebrated in nearly all of North America, including Canada and Mexico, most of Europe, Australia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and South Africa.

If the goal is inclusivity, then Valentine’s Day is already doing better than the school administrators canceling it.

Honestly, what’s next? Canceling New Year’s because not every culture follows the Gregorian calendar. Banning birthday parties because some kids have birthdays over the summer?

Many readers are probably rolling their eyes right about now.

Relax, it’s just a Valentine’s Day party. Who cares?

The kids will survive, and in the long run, most won’t even remember that their classroom party was canceled.

That’s exactly the problem though.

Valentine’s Day is just one of many holidays like Christmas and Halloween being scrapped under the guise of “inclusivity” for the supposed benefit of a tiny, vocal minority.

Valentine’s Day in elementary school isn’t about romance.

It’s about goofy cards, heart-shaped treats, and a sugar high on a school day.

If someone doesn’t celebrate it, fine. No one is forcing them to write a love letter in crayon.

But why take it away from everyone else?

So, to all of those determined to cancel this candy-fueled tradition and others like it, take a deep breath and let Cupid have his day next year. If there is one thing the world doesn’t need, it’s adults sucking the joy out of childhood in the name of progress.

Unfortunately, with March around the corner, it’s probably only a matter of time before these same schools and administrators declare shamrocks exclusionary and wearing green insensitive.

St. Patrick, you’ve been warned.

The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.

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