Photo Credit: Michelle Remite-Berthet

Displaying affection can be cute, but it becomes creepy when it goes too far.

With love in the air, many couples can’t help showing off their love in public. The act of this is called public displays of affection, or PDA for short. But, how acceptable is PDA?

Moreover, public displays of affection come in many different forms. Simply holding hands with your lover counts as PDA. Some PDA is completely innocent while other types may become too much, since couples are in public.

In high school, public displays of affection are present wherever you look. Teens are kissing in the hallways, holding hands, or hugging. Sometimes they stop in the middle of the hallway while everyone is walking and slow everyone else down. Not only can PDA be annoying but can also make others feel uncomfortable.

There is a time and place for everything and excessive amounts of kissing by lockers with students and teachers around, can be very awkward for everyone. Some amount of PDA is acceptable but it shouldn’t go too far,

CHS’s English Department Head, Mrs. Cynthia DiChiara, said, “School is a very formal setting. PDA should have boundaries in the school setting.”

However, it’s not just teachers that feel uncomfortable with excessive amounts of affection; students also feel unpleasant when witnessing great amounts of affection throughout the school day. In addition, PDA can be very distracting and can cause disturbances throughout the day. Couples walking together, hugging, or kissing, slow down other students trying to get to where they have to be. An extremely annoying and uncomfortable scenario is when a couple is kissing in front of another student’s locker, and blocking the student from going to their locker.

Maybe these situations are the reasons why other countries like the Middle East and China make PDA illegal. Even though this might be unnecessary here in the U.S., there are ways to know when your PDA goes too far.

However, the findings here were even more surprising. In a survey of 125 people conducted online, 46.7% of people responded that touching or caressing is when PDA starts to become most uncomfortable. As to reasons why it’s uncomfortable, one answered “It’s unnecessary. We’re in school, not a bedroom.” Another responded, “It’s not something I want to look at.”

If your affection is preventing others from going where they need to be, please take the affection down a notch. There is a time and a place for affection; people need to realize what times and places are appropriate as to not offend others or nauseate others. If people are obviously uncomfortable with your PDA, it’s probably too much.

Overall, keep in mind that there is a time and place for everything. You definitely know when the affection is taken to a higher level, to just stop in public. Besides, affection is at best in private, right?