Gabe Freeman and Hailey Katz

Sports Editor and Staff Writer

As teenagers, we have certain tendencies. Sometimes we have difficulty distinguishing what is acceptable in school and what should be left for the weekends. PDA, or a public display of affection, is common among couples, but where do we draw the line on our campus? We have gone to the halls to ask the Milken couples what they feel is appropriate and what might be considered too much for school.

After an impressive Homecoming performance on the football field, Josh Simmons ’12 asked Tara Schlussel ’12 to be his girlfriend with a rose in hand.  Just now, celebrating their 5-month anniversary, the seniors like to hold hands but are not big fans of PDA.

“He likes to be called Joshy,” Schlussel said.

Ariel Isaacson ’13 and Arbel Eckstein ’13 will celebrate their one-year anniversary this March and have been together since Tiferet 2011. They both feel that a kiss is okay, but do not like to make friends feel uncomfortable.

“Sitting with your friends and being too touchy-feely is awkward for everyone else, so we include our friends in the conversation,” Eckstein said.

After their first kiss at the junior retreat last year, Elan Dassa ’12 and Corine Toren ’12 have been dating for a year and three months. For Elan’s eighteenth birthday, Corine got Elan 18 cute gifts.

“The best part about PDA at school is that teachers tend to creep up on us,” Dassa said.

Ilan Chesed ’13 and Emily Kolker ’13 have been dating since May of freshman year. Their relationship was sparked on the ninth grade Colorado River Trip. This couple is rare in that they made it through Tiferet staying together and communicating via video chat as Kolker stayed back in LA.

“We like to hug and hold hands, but I think that couples at Milken shouldn’t show too much PDA. There’s a good amount, and then there is too much. Everyone just needs to use their judgment,” Kolker said.

Dating now for two years and three months, Arielle Rich ‘ 12 and Jonathan Brooks ’12 are the second-longest couple at Milken. They both feel PDA can be excessive and try to stay away from it. Arielle said they like to hang out outside of school, like the time she took him paragliding in Malibu for his birthday.

As we have discovered, different couples have different levels of comfort in terms of PDA at Milken. For some of us, our teenage nature triumphs over proper school etiquette, but overall we were happy to find that Milken couples always know where to draw the line.

*Note: Not all couples at Milken were interviewed for this article.