Occasionally an announcement would come over the address system at my school: “There will be no public display of affection at Lincoln High School.” PDA, as it is sometimes called, was forbidden and a cause for disciplinary action. I was never sure what the principal was referring to, since I had witnessed neither kissing nor hand holding in the halls. Apparently, however, some couples had found a way to do some surreptitious smooching leaning into their lockers.
Such discomfort surrounded public displays of affection, much less of any sexually suggestive behavior, that all sorts of boundaries were common. On television, couples slept in twin beds. The first appearance of Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show only showed him from the waist up since his pelvic gyrations were not seen as appropriate family entertainment.
Imagine my reaction back then if I knew that I would some day see couples in parks “carrying on.” In Portland, where I used to live, there have been complaints about a full range of sexual activity in doorways and sidewalks. In New England we seem to remain more subdued, though our weather may play a part in it!
PDA seems to be defined very differently around the world. Here an occasional quick kiss seems to be allowable, as long as the couple is either heterosexual or family members. I don’t know how it is other places, and would welcome any shared insights from my readers.
Saved By Words 
Pretty much anything goes in London, esp in summer and no distinction between gay and straight either.
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Not here. That is interesting about London.
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I guess it may be because we have so many nationalities. Someone calculated that about 300 languages are spoken as first languages across primary schools in the London area either the children or their parents…
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Wow. I had no idea.
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I think those who publicly display affection toward Donald Trump should be placed in solitary confinement. 😦
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Good plan. Without each other to egg them on they would get very quiet.
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I have never seen gay couples censured for PDA where I have lived. I remember boys and girls getting into trouble for walking with their hands in each others’ back pockets in school!
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Here it is less censured than not done. A response to previous censure I suppose.
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Here, people of my generation are not at comfortable about PDA. Ours is a university town and students seem to have no such inhibitions. We turn away, feeling embarrassed 🙂
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I think the generation difference is true here also.
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I can’t speak for what happens in school now, but during my time, in the 1960s, there was very little obvious affection shown. A girl I liked (and she liked me back) used to rub her leg against mine, under the desk, or let her hand linger on mine when I passed her a book, or papers. Sometimes, the feel of her nylons against my thigh used to distract me for an entire lesson. 🙂
That was more than enough to get me hot under the collar, in my early teens!
When a boy and girl were known to be a ‘couple’, it soon got around. But from the way they behaved at school, it would never have been obvious.
Best wishes, Pete.
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We didn’t show any either in school.
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I had to laugh when I read this. We used to have the same rules at my school. One couple got a detention for “osculating in the hallway.” We had to look it up in the dictionary. LOL!
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That’s hilarious.
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The first time I saw a couple kissing in public was in New York. I couldn’t believe my poor Jamaican eyes.
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Not a thing in Jamaica?
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