Most teenage movies have a recurring trope: The third wheel; someone who wearily wanders behind the inseparable pair, who can’t seem to resist one another. Although scenarios like these may seem satirical and comedic, it’s not completely inaccurate.
Like every public high school, students are naturally drawn to one another, and relationships become more apparent as they are nearing adulthood. With this evolution, PDA becomes relatively common. However the stigma surrounding PDA in high school has become a grievance for some students, and couples are forced to downplay physical contact for the sake of others.
Izzy Houser, a WVHS junior and someone currently in a relationship, has sometimes been a contributor to this sometimes intolerable occurrence. Although she doesn’t intend to, she retrospectively recognizes the positions she puts her friends in while with her boyfriend, saying “having a PDA relationship while having another friend there is disgusting.”
Fellow friend of Houser and junior at WVHS, Sophia Dyer, has a seemingly antithetical dynamic between Houser and her boyfriend. Although she can admit the struggles of third wheeling, Dyer finds that circumstances depend upon the couple. Dyer exclaimed, “I love the people I hang out with,” and “they make it seem like [she’s] a part of the group.”
Jett McCall, a sophomore, has previously been a victim of third-wheeling, and he advises couples to limit the amount of PDA so as to not make them feel like “the awkward third person.” At times, McCall feels “unwanted and comfortable.”
McCall’s experience with this quandary has helped illustrate the effects of uncomfortable exclusion in a social setting, and may evoke a change in the way couples interact with one another. Although not all students are as easily affected by third wheeling, its important to emphasize those who are.
WVHS students believe that standardized public displays of affection should be considered redundant in a school environment. No matter the circumstances that may allow an exception, these selected students have voiced their struggle with this social role.