It’s the season of generosity, friendship, and cheer, but which gift-giving game is your favorite? Secret Santa is a common game where an individual is assigned a random person to get a gift. White elephant is typically a “gag” game in which participants buy random gifts and put them in a circle to be grabbed at random. In some versions, people can steal a gift from another person for themselves.
“It honestly depends on what activity or what club organization it’s involved in,” senior Brenna Henderson said. “I would love Secret Santa, but for the ones that I’m doing where we don’t know most people in it, white elephant is a good way to get everybody involved.”
Powell High School has so many different clubs and activities that are participating in either a Secret Santa or a white elephant including cheer, drama, band, choir, FFA, and student council.
“I have a preference for Secret Santa as I find the exchange of more personalized gifts to be more enjoyable, while I appreciate the humor associated with white elephant exchanges, I do not have any desire to take home items such as a Bob Ross chia pet.” junior Nyah Johnson said. “We do Secret Santa every year for cheer and it’s fun to learn more about your team you’re with all the time. White Elephant is better for band as we don’t know each other enough to do Secret Santa.”
Despite most people saying it depends on the club, other students take a strong stance no matter the activity.
“I think [white elephant] is more fun because you can get funny gifts, and people don’t take it personally, Secret Santa, you’re supposed to get something for that person, and I think that is a lot of pressure,” senior Paul Cox said. “White elephant, you can just get something stupid and put it in there, and people will fight over it. It’s good entertainment, and nobody’s gonna get their feelings hurt.”
It is commonly agreed that white elephant is more of a “gag” game and should be silly, fun, and secretive as you open random gifts.
“[White elephant] is also more light-hearted fun than a Secret Santa,” sophomore James Emmet said. “I like it as the game it is because it has the same secretive feel as a Secret Santa with people I don’t know on that deep level.”
Although Secret Santa does have a place in the hearts of teams and clubs that are close-knit, at the end of the day, most students agree that white elephant is better than Secret Santa because it has no pressure involved, it’s silly, no feelings are hurt, and it’s entertaining for everyone.
