When it comes to Christmas, your birthday or any other holiday that involves gifts, do you share ideas with family and friends about what you would like to receive? Or do you prefer surprises?
When you’re the one giving a gift, do you appreciate having as much direction as possible, or do you prefer to give something the person isn’t expecting?
In “All I Want for Christmas Is in This 18-Slide Presentation,” Alyson Krueger writes about the trend of teenagers showcasing the items they want for Christmas in PowerPoints. The article begins:
Every year, Michelle Miller-McNair asks her three children to make lists of what they want for Christmas. “They usually write it down on a piece of paper or send me a link to a website,” she said.
But this holiday season, Ms. Miller-McNair, a comedian in Mooresville, N.C., received something else: an 18-slide PowerPoint presentation with photos, links and QR codes. It was made by one of her daughters, McKinley.
“I worked on it some during school and also when I was at my friend’s house,” McKinley, 13, said. “It took me about two hours total.”
The slide show included Panda Dunks (black-and-white Nike sneakers), makeup and a necklace from Kendra Scott. She marked high priority items with stars. Before delivering her wish list to her parents one weeknight after dinner, she practiced going through her deck.
“I thought through what I was going to say for each slide,” McKinley said.
Her mother was impressed.
“She gave me reasons why she doesn’t just want these items, but she actually needs them,” Ms. Miller-McNair, 40, said. “She had these Uggs that are slide-on-slippers, and she said she needs to put them on when she gets out of basketball practice, so she doesn’t ruin her basketball shoes.”
Let’s hope Santa is tech-savvy. Kids have long been using Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides for gift requests and school projects, but this year’s lists seem more elaborate than ever, with links, photos, decorative themes and QR codes. A number of recent TikTok videos show teenagers taking their parents through their gift requests in meetings that resemble corporate sales pitches.
Students, read the entire article and then tell us:
Does anything in the article remind you of yourself or someone you know, in regard to gift-giving? Did anything seem unfamiliar?
What role does PowerPoint play in your life at school and elsewhere? Are you adept at conveying information in that medium? What about the public speaking aspect of presenting your decks? Does it seem natural to you that teens are using these skills to communicate with their family members about what they want for Christmas?
Would you ever make a video, deck or wish list with links to things you would like to receive as gifts? How do you think your loved ones would react? Or, if you’ve already made such a presentation, what response did it get?
Do you think people tend to appreciate directions and specifics about gift giving? Or do they prefer to choose what they would like to give to people?
Do you think the trend of making and sharing wish lists on TikTok or via PowerPoint decks will catch on more, eventually becoming a holiday standard?
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.
Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.
