Chocolate eggs and bunnies have been sold since the day after Valentine's day. We see commercials for Easter eggs and candy. We hear stories about the Easter bunny and all the goodies he brings. While I think bunnies are really cute and I love candy, I think the true meaning of Easter has been lost behind the commercialization of it.
Easter is about celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. It's about celebrating his life and recognizing his sacrifice and love for us. And so that is what Easter should be about and the focus of.
However, I do see how the bunny can symbolize Jesus. The reason why the bunny is represented during Easter is that rabbits give birth around this time to a lot of bunnies. These bunnies represent new life, similarly to how Jesus' resurrection gives Christians a "new life". A lot of Christians feel that this time is a new start because of the resurrection. So I can see how maybe incorporating a bunny into Easter is like a good starting point for teaching children about Easter.
That being said, I really don't like how commercialized Easter is. It's throwing a bunch of beliefs at people about what "Easter" is about, which I don't think is right, especially when it's wrong. There's this idea that there has to be candy, baskets, eggs, and gifts. When in actuality, that's not what it is supposed to be about.
I'm not saying for there to be commercials about the resurrection of Jesus or anything like that, but I wish there was this stop of pushing consumerism for every holiday, specifically Christian holidays. There are a lot of people in America who belong to different religions or don't belong to one, and while I understand that the popular religion is Christianity, it just doesn't seem right to put the spotlight on the Christian holidays and distort them.