PDA becoming more public in the halls: Roosevelt students are more open with their feelings

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 19:18:00 GMT

By Jessica Dunn

photo by Laura Contrucci

Public display of affection (PDA) is a common sight around the halls of Roosevelt. Couples everywhere show off their relationships and feelings towards each other all over school. The rest of the student body, however, is forced to watch this PDA all day, in between every period. Is that really necessary? I realize you love each other—or so you think—but each period is only 48 minutes long, I think you’ll be fine being apart from each other for less than an hour. Sexual acts are made to be done in private, if at all. They’re meant to be shared between two people, not the entire population of the school. Freshmen in high school are generally 14 or 15 years old. If you ask me, that is still too young to even be seeing half of the things going on in our hallways, let alone participating in them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not accusing the freshmen of anything, I am saying the student body, as a whole is a little guilty. Think about it, you’re a senior. Your younger brother or sister is a freshman. Do you really want them subject to the excessive PDA in between classes? Or worse, would you like them to see you and your acts of PDA? I have heard from various teachers saying how disgusted they are at all of the PDA going on at the switch of classes. There is a line, and some people seem to have no problem crossing it. Having a teacher see you mauling your significant other in the hall should be like having a parent walk in on you, right? Some teachers have mentioned obtaining a squirt gun and using it on any couple they see doing anything that approaches that inappropriate line. PDA makes many of the people around you feel awkward and uncomfortable, teachers and students alike. Not only are you forcing the other students to watch you and become uncomfortable (or jealous which may be your ultimate goal), but you’re also forcing the teachers who stand in the halls to watch you and become uncomfortable as well. School is a professional atmosphere, and the teachers have set a perfect example of that. There are a few teachers in our building who are married couples. They come to work every day with their spouses, but may or may not get to see them in between every period (which is the same situation a lot of Roosevelt’s student couples are in). They do not, however, grope each other in the hallways when they do see each other, or force the other faculty and students to watch them. Granted, they are married couples, and the issue at hand is student couples that are merely dating. If married couples can handle themselves, why can’t teens follow that trend? From what I can see, it looks like the people that take part in the PDA in the halls are only doing it because they know it bothers the other students and teachers, or just to show off the fact that they have a boyfriend or girlfriend. They get attention (whether it’s negative or not) from doing said PDA, and that is their overall goal to begin with.

The Colonel

PDA becoming more public in the halls: Roosevelt students are more open with their feelings