Dear Students,

“Students should show self-respect and a sense of self-pride and refrain from inappropriate physical displays of affection. Excessive PDA will result in disciplinary action.”

This excerpt from page 33 in the WAHS student handbook says it all. It is explicitly stated that under any circumstances (besides hand holding) PDA is not allowed! So why is it still such a problem? There are multiple pictures and comments on social media, so it is obvious that many people notice this and have a problem with it.

We see it almost every day, and when we don’t, we hear it. It’s in the staircase, under the staircase, in the cafeteria and blocking the hallways. Not only is it an inconvenience when one is trying to get to class, it simply makes one very uncomfortable. There seems to be more of it everyday. When did this become normal? When did this become okay? Teachers always seem to be telling us “School is like your job. This is where you should be acting as a professional.” So where along the line did people start think ing when you’re 27 working in an office building, it would be appropriate to be making out with someone in the hallways

Teachers seem to agree. “I would say yes, PDA has gotten a lot worse here. I think kids … I see a relaxing of the mood,” Mr.Bledsoe said when asked if he noticed the PDA.

Bledsoe puts it perfectly when he says “a relaxing of the mood” because that is how it seems. But the halls of school are not private, they are shared by a little over 1,000 people, so why does it feel like we are walking into someone’s living room.
Something has to be done. Many people have expressed their strong feelings against PDA but nothing seems to change. Faculty needs to step in but so do students. To students and teachers alike: If you see something you don’t want to, say so, stop it yourself. We need to reinstate that even though there seems to be a mutual trust between faculty and students, it is not a given. And students breaking the same rule every day in front of students and teachers does not bode well for mutual trust that allows us more freedom in school.