During my first year at Libertyville High School, I have noticed many occasions of PDA in the hallways.  For those who do not know, PDA stands for public displays of affection, such as kissing, hugging, or groping in public areas.

Frankly, I find this behavior repulsive. Whenever I am walking to class or trying to have a conversation with a friend, I am always interrupted by multiple couples using their passing period to make out with each other.  It is so unnecessary to show excessive displays of affection to your significant other in the hallway because YOU WILL SEE THEM AGAIN IN 50 MINUTES!  I could understand it if you would not see your boyfriend or girlfriend for an extended period of time, and you want to kiss them goodbye.  But if you are in the same school and you find it indispensable to kiss your significant other goodbye when you can see them again in less than an hour, then you need to stop.

Another reason why PDA is unnecessary in the hallway, and any other location within the school, is because there are much better places to do whatever activities you want with your boyfriend or girlfriend.  Here’s a revolutionary idea: You and your boy/girlfriend could make out in a PRIVATE location!  Instead of making 90% of the school watch you intimately kiss someone, you can go to someone’s house, a hotel, a motel, a street alley, or any other place to do so.  But please, don’t make the rest of us suffer through the sight any longer.

Don’t get me wrong though, not all PDA is unacceptable.  Some PDA is understandable, but some is not.  So I will take you through what I think is acceptable and unacceptable for public displays of affection at LHS.

Acceptable:

• Short kisses on the cheek or lips (keyword: Short)

• Hugging your boyfriend or girlfriend goodbye

• Holding hands

• Walking with your arm around your boyfriend or girlfriend

• Condoling your significant other with a hug or kiss if they are sad

• Romantic high fives

Not Acceptable:

• Kissing your boyfriend or girlfriend for an extended period of time

• Making out with your boyfriend or girlfriend

• Groping

• Any questionable or inappropriate noises while with your boyfriend or girlfriend

• Removing any clothing

• Any other excessive displays of affection

Another place where PDA is common at LHS is in the cafeteria.  When I am enjoying my sandwich at lunch, the sight of a couple making out with each other makes it much less delicious.  This makes me very unhappy, because the lunchroom should be used for tasting food, not for tasting the inside of your significant other’s mouth.  I cannot count how many times I’ve had trouble enjoying my food because of two people outwardly making out with one another.  Please, just stop.

Also, if you think you are being stealthy by hiding in a “secretive” location at LHS, you are not.  Senior Kelsie Loumeau was walking down a hallway when she saw a couple huddled in a small crevice making out with each other.  “It’s funny how they thought they were hiding, when in  reality, everyone saw them.  It’s creepy to see people doing that when you’re minding your own business in the hallway,” Loumeau stated.  It would make student’s days much better if they did not have to deal with that sight.

In the student handbook, it states that “excessive displays of affection” are in violation of school rules. Some students, however, choose to completely ignore this statement.  The rule is not enforced properly in the school, and that should change.

So next time you are in the hallway with your boyfriend or girlfriend and you find it necessary to make out with them, just remember that you can do so at another time and another place.