The fact I hear even the 11 year olds talking about their "boyfriends", "girlfriends", "exes" and "date rejections" on a daily basis speaks volumes: of course, Valentine's Day is not the sole culprit, but this day DOES add extra pressure on our youngsters to feel they have "somebody" on this day. If they don't it can set off a whole self-esteem knock on effect and if they do - well that adds its own pressures and concerns...
Now I don't want to be a complete Valentine's Grinch as love is the most important action we can give to another, but I do want to be a good role model for my students and promote positive messages to develop their character. So what I propose we do is instead of focusing on romantic love is to promote friendship love instead! Students can love their friends and that is more than enough - there is no need to feel they need to be in a romantic relationship to celebrate Valentine's Day. I wish that message was broadcast out to the world a bit more strongly too - we might not be able to change the world overnight, but we can start a revolution in our own classrooms!
So, in celebration of friendship love, like this one from my