Existing in a small school like CHS creates a densely occupied space that leads to students falling for people they see every day but have never met.
Some define this phenomenon as a “hallway crush,” such as sophomore Shawn Ribeiro, who believes it’s when someone reacts with “Wowza!” upon seeing another student.
While Ribeiro finds this to be an enjoyable experience, senior Molly Deming of Red Bank disagrees and says that some hallway crushes can be unhealthy. Deming adds that hallway crushes are a waste of time if there is no plan to take further action. She explains that it can be fun for a bit as long as it doesn’t get uncomfortable or too intense.
“I think hallway crushes could be fun for some people, but it’s not my type of thing. I think if it gets serious some people get a little stalkery and it gets a little intense,” Deming said.
Deming also explains how easy it is for hallway crushes to develop in Communications High School.
“I think with our potency, especially with the amount of queer people at our school coming into a safer community, I think developing a hallway crush happens very easily,” Deming said.
Junior Oksana Kopylenko of Manalapan believes CHS’s small population makes it challenging to have a hallway crush.
“I feel like you know all these people so well that it’s really hard to have a crush on someone that you like,” Kopylenko said.
Senior August Sullivan of Hazlet echoes the sentiment, especially regarding the anonymous nature.
“I think hallway crushes are a result of general attraction combined with not knowing the person well enough,” Sullivan said. “You can project what you want in a relationship onto them.”
It can be fun to appreciate something or, in this case, someone from afar; it can be someone they like, just for their looks or they actually care for. Eventually, it could become reckless and even in some cases unhealthy, to the point of the crushing becoming too obsessive.
Either way, whether or not someone has a hallway crush, it is vital for it to be appropriately managed for both the crush and the crusher, described freshman Brynn Hughes of Wall.
“It is up to the person, they need to be careful and aware of how far they are taking it,” Hughes said.
