Youths and Some Behaviour...Public Kissing!

HAVE YOU ever gone to a shopping mall and found a couple kissing in full view of every one and not caring what people will say about them? What runs in your mind when you see such acts? Or have you ever imagined what other people think about such actions?

Well this kind of affection is known as Public Display of Affection (PDA). Wikipedia encyclopedia defines PDA as the physical demonstration of affection for another person while in the view of others.
PDA could be as simple as a mother hugging her son or two friends holding hands. And there is the heavy affection which involves kissing and hugging intimately which people express different views on.
Agnes Sichone a 41 year old Lusaka resident said kissing in public gives her heart aches. Ms. Sichone said it was not right for people both married and unmarried to kiss or hug intimately in public places.

“It is not part of our African culture to kiss or hug intimately in public. These practices have been borrowed from the western countries, and are costing our conducts dearly” charged Sichone.
In the Western world, it is normal to see people holding hands or kissing in public places and during public events without raising eyebrows.
Ms. Sichone added that people who engaged in such activities came from families that did not uphold African customs or perhaps never appreciate their way of life.
And Gwen Phiri, a 20 year old lady said that showing affection should be done privately.
“Kissing in public is very disgusting, people who do this should put in mind that they are corrupting the minds of children. Intimate public display of affection should be banned like what has been done in other countries because it promotes immorality,” Ms Phiri concluded.
She said it was very disappointing that such acts were being practiced publicly by the new generation to the embarrassment of the elderly.

Ms. Phiri argued that there should be limitations in public display of affection as certain actions were for classified and should it should remain that way in order to maintain moral fibre.
She concluded that there was nothing wrong in holding hands and giving someone a friendly hug but extending to kissing in public was a problematic and should be stopped by the authority as it amounted to public nuisance.
And Nonde Namwinga, a 20 old lady said that intimate public display of affection was bad and that it should not be entertained.
In most Arabic countries, varying public displays are not allowed. In Saudi Arabia for instance, any form of public display of affection is not tolerated and in Pakistan it is common among young people but it is a taboo and it is almost never done in front of authorities, as it is a criminal offence.
The supreme court of India has defined public display of affection to be in bad taste and defines such behavior as unacceptable.
However, Elizabeth Chila, a 17 year old grade 12 pupil, said there was nothing wrong with public display of affection because people had the right to show others that there were in a relationship.
“People who condemn public display of affection should just get used to seeing it. They should realise that there is technology, we watch these things on television time have changed,” said Chila.
And a 24 year old woman, who only identified herself as Mary, said that she participates in public display of affection and finds nothing wrong with it. She feels that people ought to mind there own business.
“My fiancé and I kiss in public places and we do not find anything wrong with it,” disclosed Mary.
She wondered how people were going to know that she was the only woman in her fiancés life, if they did not show their love in public.
“If my boyfriend does not hug me and hold my hands in public, I will definitely suspect that he is seeing another woman,” said Mary.
Another resident, James, said that there was nothing wrong with public display of affection and that people should know that it takes place in churches as well.
“I once witnessed my pastor kissing the wife in church when he was preaching about marriage and there were children in church,” charged James.
He added that the African culture has been compromised because people kiss on their wedding day in front of so many people, there parents inclusive.
“There are flower girls and boys on wedding line ups, they get to watch the bride and groom kiss but no one complains about it, why is it an issue to others?” he questioned.
However, most people’s understanding regarding this topic depends on the way they were brought up and the people that surround them and their background.