As masks come off and hormones rise on campus, a big issue causing discomfort around Poway High is public displays of affection (PDA). Students just trying to get to class are often bombarded by the sight of their peers making out in the hallways. Not only is it a shocking sight at 8 a.m, but highly disturbing as well.

School is the place for a lot of things. It’s a place to learn, socialize, and engage in extracurricular activities. Kissing, petting, cuddling, and groping are not the kind of extracurriculars that have any place on school grounds.

High school relationships are an exciting thing for many students, and seeing your significant other at school every day is a great way to spend some quality time together, but excessive physical affection should be something that waits for outside school hours.

Hand-holding, hugging, maybe even a peck on the cheek here and there are totally appropriate ways to show some physical love on campus without making everyone around you feel uncomfortable. Beyond the physical, some kind words in passing or a quick text when allowed are great ways to connect with a significant other.

Subjecting students to seeing PDA in a place they go to learn just is not fair. In order to satisfy their physical urges, some students are risking the comfort of hundreds of their peers.
In some cases, these students have even been confronted about how they are making people uncomfortable, and it hasn’t stopped their inappropriate behaviors. It does not take much more than common decency to save your affection for a better time, and knowing that you are making others cringe should be all the incentive you need to stop.

It’s completely normal to be in a relationship and want to show affection toward a significant other, but there is a time and a place for it, and that is not on a high school campus.