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By: Mason Machiran

   From 7:45 in the morning to 2:35 in the afternoon, the last thing most people want to see is what some students decide to do in the hallways of Marriotts Ridge. Some of us can’t seem to wait until after school to be alone with our significant other. The public display of affection (PDA) needs to stop. It creates an unnecessarily awkward atmosphere for everyone. If asked, most people seem uncomfortable with it; however, a few students, the ones participating, are a little too comfortable. Personally, I get second-hand embarrassment when I see PDA happen in school, and I am not the only

one. 

   “I don’t understand how people can not only do that in front of people, but also just not wait until they’re alone,” senior Jack Sloper said. 

   People show their affection not only in the halls, but also in class.

   “I was finishing up my test when I saw a girl cuddled up with a guy right next to me, [and] they gave me a dirty look as if it was my fault for seeing them during class,” senior Markus Hollis stated.

   The culprits–those getting caught for their public affection–often blame the viewers of

their activities for purposely watching these disturbing acts. For Hollis’s case, he noted that others were inappropriately cuddling and kissing in public; therefore, the unfortunate experience was not Hollis’s fault; he did not want to see the PDA take place from the start. 

   The majority of people strongly dislike seeing these things happening in the hallways, especially when walking into school in the morning.

   “This is not normal. I shouldn’t be seeing this, and people can’t get mad at me for seeing it when they do it in front of me,” senior CJ Nyorker commented.

   The moral of the story: people do not want to see people kissing, holding hands, and groping each other in the hallway. 

   On a more personal note, I was on my way downstairs and saw a boy and a girl on the wall of the stairwell. The young man was licking his girlfriend’s nose, while she was giggling and making weird noises. To this day, I don’t understand how someone could do that in public and not feel embarrassed. It was disgusting, and I hope to never witness anything like that again. 

   People holding hands should be the furthest that students take their public affections, yet they perform much worse. The students who deny the severity of their actions say, “It’s not PDA,” or, “My significant other and I don’t do it,” but we all know that they are. PDA is uncomfortable for the poor witnesses, and students need to stop showing their affection in school. No one wants to see it.