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Unreasonable school rules

The Singing Beard

What were the most unreasonable school rules you can remember from your school-going days?

I was in secondary school from 2003 to 2008, (inclusive).

In my school, the front door was for staff and visitors only, if a teacher caught you going in this door, you had to go back out the front door, around the school and in the back or side door.

Drinking was completely forbidden in classrooms. If you even took a sip from your water bottle in class, the bottle would be seized and not returned until the end of the day.

Wearing any coats other than the €80 school coat was forbidden. If you were even seen by staff on the way to school with it on, they'd find you and take it from you. If if was a cold day, tough.

If you were between classes and had to send a text message some teachers would slither like a serpent and take the phone from you. Even if you were not in a class.

If you were late to school (even if it was the school bus drivers fault / traffic) you still got detention.

Was my school abnormally fascist or did anyone else have similar experiences? It wasn't a Christian Brothers School btw.

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jimgoose

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

Worse. He had a glass cabinet in the classroom full of dead/dying tamagatchis. I guess it was meant to serve as a warning to the rest of us! It was like a matter of pride to him, how long he could keep them just-about-alive. It was hilarious alright, but slightly messed up!

You know those things are computer programs, right??

The Singing Beard

Even the over18's needed a note to excuse any absences from school or to leave early or arrive late.

Schwiiing

I have a theory that schools aren't only to educate but to produce nice obedient little citizens who are too scared to question authority and the bull**** ideas and actions of those in authority.

Un Croissant

freshpopcorn wrote: »

Where I went to secondary school. The C.B.S, the Convent and the tech all went down to the local deli counters for lunch. There was only a few odd balls that brought mammy's packed lunch and they tended to be the most unhealthy!

Coming from someone who ate out every lunch in secondary, I can't see how the home lunches were worse. Unless mammy was soaking the sandwiches in her píss overnight and sent you off with a bottle of vinegar to drink.

Chattastrophe!

YellowFeather wrote: »

I'm sorry, but that's actually fcuking hilarious. :pac: What. Would they show you your half dead pet every now and again to keep you in line??

Worse. He had a glass cabinet in the classroom full of dead/dying tamagatchis. I guess it was meant to serve as a warning to the rest of us! It was like a matter of pride to him, how long he could keep them just-about-alive. It was hilarious alright, but slightly messed up!

freshpopcorn

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

Would you not just have bought stuff for him to make a packed lunch for himself every day? I'm sure the deli food would be grand as an occasional treat, but I can't imagine allowing a kid to eat that stuff on a regular basis! Besides, it must have cost a fortune!

Where I went to secondary school. The C.B.S, the Convent and the tech all went down to the local deli counters for lunch. There was only a few odd balls that brought mammy's packed lunch and they tended to be the most unhealthy!

YellowFeather

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

When tamagatchis were in fashion, one particular teacher used to love confiscating them and feeding them just enough to keep them alive, but sick and hungry and unhappy. Funny looking back, but kind of sadistic too!

I'm sorry, but that's actually fcuking hilarious. :pac: What. Would they show you your half dead pet every now and again to keep you in line??

Cienciano

I was in a CBS, we had a no long hair rule but the standard answer that the brothers hated was "but jesus had long hair".

lazygal wrote: »

Did anyone's parents ever challenge the rules? Mine did, and I admire them for it. I can't imagine letting my child have to suffer because of some I'll conceived rule that makes no sense.

The thing is, most of the rules aren't actually that unreasonable. The non perscription drug one is the only one worth challenging over imho. Maybe being late if it's not your fault.

From reading on reddit, the standard rule in America that seems crazy is if someone starts a fight you have to stand there and take it or else you're equally responsible and will get punished the same

CrazyRabbit

An ex-friend has a son whose primary school forbids all physical contact between students. I guess it's to stop them from sexually assaulting and raping each other. Can't trust those damn 8 year olds!

Chattastrophe!

nala_rinaldo wrote: »

all of them school rules are pretty pointless. i’m not good at following rules. because they are usually for someone. that’s why they are pointless. and what annoyed me no teacher cared about and if they did they didn’t achieve anything about it. teachers go to school for money so they don’t really care about students.
and i think those schools where only men or only women go to are really fascist. that’s why there are so many gays in europe.

wat

nala_rinaldo

all of them school rules are pretty pointless. i’m not good at following rules. because they are usually for someone. that’s why they are pointless. and what annoyed me no teacher cared about and if they did they didn’t achieve anything about it. teachers go to school for money so they don’t really care about students.
and i think those schools where only men or only women go to are really fascist. that’s why there are so many gays in europe.

pajor

The Singing Beard wrote: »

In my school, the front door was for staff and visitors only, if a teacher caught you going in this door, you had to go back out the front door, around the school and in the back or side door.

Wearing any coats other than the €80 school coat was forbidden. If you were even seen by staff on the way to school with it on, they'd find you and take it from you. If if was a cold day, tough.

Had both of these rules in my school, never understood it. :mad:

Especially the coats, which were so uncomfortable. And smelled awful in the rain.

suicide_circus

We were banned from jocking eachother in the queue for the canteen.

Mickey H

Buona Fortuna wrote: »

The main corridor ran past the posh front entrance. There was a foyer there with all the awards and cups, the school charter and motto (from 1552) in a display case.

Only masters and sixth formers were allowed to use it. Everyone else had to walk the long way round the whole school.

Anyone caught got a good dose of "never did me any harm".

Did the also practise Fagging in your school?

cloud493

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

Would you not just have bought stuff for him to make a packed lunch for himself every day? I'm sure the deli food would be grand as an occasional treat, but I can't imagine allowing a kid to eat that stuff on a regular basis! Besides, it must have cost a fortune!

Lot of kids do that though, least round here. The queues outside the chippy and the spar and the sandwich shop at school lunchtime is ridiculous.

liz lemoncello

miss no stars wrote: »

..... I guess you could say I was marked from early on and was always watched. If I was starting to limp there was usually a year head or vice principal who'd appear and remind me of the school rules ....

You poor thing. That sounds really nasty.

Chattastrophe!

muddypaws wrote: »

Yes I did for my son. There was no canteen or any provision for food in the school, not even a room for them to sit in and eat sandwiches. Pupils who lived in the town (very, very small town) or who had relatives that did, were allowed out at lunchtime, presumably to go home, but most would go to Gala or Centra for food, as you wouldn't have time in the 30 minute lunch break to walk home, eat lunch and walk back. We lived about 3 miles from the school, no relatives in the town, but I wrote a letter, saying that I gave permission for him to go out at lunchtime and get something hot to eat. If no pupils had been allowed out at lunchtime, then fair enough, but I felt it was wrong for some to be allowed out, with the school knowing they weren't going home, but others not to be allowed. The school refused to let my son out, even with my permission. They were allowed out once they got to senior cycle, but then, when he got to that age, they said it was only the last year that they were actually allowed out. :rolleyes:

I would give him money for his lunch, and if the school phoned me to say he'd been caught out of school, would tell them that he had my permission to be out, they would say he wasn't allowed, I would say he was, and it just went on.

Would you not just have bought stuff for him to make a packed lunch for himself every day? I'm sure the deli food would be grand as an occasional treat, but I can't imagine allowing a kid to eat that stuff on a regular basis! Besides, it must have cost a fortune!

The Adversary

Interesting thread.

The only ones I can think of were individual teachers with OCD pushing it onto everyone with ridiculous rules.

Worksheets in red folder, essays in blue folder. No writing in black pen only blue, headings have to be in red ink or they would refuse to correct them or dock you marks and so on.

One lad forced everyone to write the date the american way for some reason. I'm an incredibly messy individual and people fussing and nitpicking over minor details annoys me to no end. Constantly getting picked up on it.

Polka_Dot

Nothing unreasonable really. They introduced a one way system in my old secondary school just before we left, trialing it out before the next year I suppose. It was pretty inconvenient as a lot of classrooms were between floors so you'd have to go a really roundabout way to get to certain classes. Most of the teachers didn't even like it. A friend of mine was leaving school late one day after finishing up some after school activity and got given out to for going the wrong way in the one way system even though it was about 6pm and nobody was around. Probably would have annoyed me more if it had been properly in place at the time.

They were pretty strict on uniform, black shoes, school jacket, etc. There was a specific school scarf but I got away with not wearing it as I'm allergic to wool. That one wasn't too strictly enforced though.

The_Valeyard

muddypaws wrote: »

Yes I did for my son. There was no canteen or any provision for food in the school, not even a room for them to sit in and eat sandwiches. Pupils who lived in the town (very, very small town) or who had relatives that did, were allowed out at lunchtime, presumably to go home, but most would go to Gala or Centra for food, as you wouldn't have time in the 30 minute lunch break to walk home, eat lunch and walk back. We lived about 3 miles from the school, no relatives in the town, but I wrote a letter, saying that I gave permission for him to go out at lunchtime and get something hot to eat. If no pupils had been allowed out at lunchtime, then fair enough, but I felt it was wrong for some to be allowed out, with the school knowing they weren't going home, but others not to be allowed. The school refused to let my son out, even with my permission. They were allowed out once they got to senior cycle, but then, when he got to that age, they said it was only the last year that they were actually allowed out. :rolleyes:

I would give him money for his lunch, and if the school phoned me to say he'd been caught out of school, would tell them that he had my permission to be out, they would say he wasn't allowed, I would say he was, and it just went on.

You rebel :rolleyes: if something happened to your son I'm sure all of a sudden it would be the schools fault.

Ave Sodalis

lazygal wrote: »

Did anyone's parents ever challenge the rules? Mine did, and I admire them for it. I can't imagine letting my child have to suffer because of some I'll conceived rule that makes no sense.

Yup, when Mum was in school, girls weren't allowed to do Metalwork. My mother wanted to do Metalwork so staged a protest in the middle of the main part of the school. She was the first of the girls to do Metalwork in the school

In our primary school, we weren't allowed to run either. Fair enough, some might think, the risk of a kid falling and all that. However, there was not only an entire double football pitch, but also a grass area the size of another football pitch at the front of the school. Students aren't allowed on either of them, except the pitches during sports day. There was also a lot of rules brought into that school because of our class. First, it was no group games (we used to play bulldog but one person told the teacher they weren't allowed to join, even though they were), then it was no lollipops, then it was no crisps, then it was staying in seats during break times inside (one lad threw a stone through the staffroom door window), and there was a whole host of other rules that I can't remember that were brought in because of us. School was run like military training (bar the exercise).

Secondary school wasn't too bad. They went nuts with the school jacket and shoes enforcement during my second year. New principle. Junior cycle years weren't allowed the 100m to the nearest shop. We didn't have anything about doors though...

muddypaws

lazygal wrote: »

Did anyone's parents ever challenge the rules? Mine did, and I admire them for it. I can't imagine letting my child have to suffer because of some I'll conceived rule that makes no sense.

Yes I did for my son. There was no canteen or any provision for food in the school, not even a room for them to sit in and eat sandwiches. Pupils who lived in the town (very, very small town) or who had relatives that did, were allowed out at lunchtime, presumably to go home, but most would go to Gala or Centra for food, as you wouldn't have time in the 30 minute lunch break to walk home, eat lunch and walk back. We lived about 3 miles from the school, no relatives in the town, but I wrote a letter, saying that I gave permission for him to go out at lunchtime and get something hot to eat. If no pupils had been allowed out at lunchtime, then fair enough, but I felt it was wrong for some to be allowed out, with the school knowing they weren't going home, but others not to be allowed. The school refused to let my son out, even with my permission. They were allowed out once they got to senior cycle, but then, when he got to that age, they said it was only the last year that they were actually allowed out. :rolleyes:

I would give him money for his lunch, and if the school phoned me to say he'd been caught out of school, would tell them that he had my permission to be out, they would say he wasn't allowed, I would say he was, and it just went on.

miss no stars

liz lemoncello wrote: »

How did they enforce this? I would have just tried to carry one of those little pill boxes in my pocket.

Unfortunately it was kind of a problem that stemmed from foolishly thinking that the school would cooperate with a medically supervised pain management regime. I guess you could say I was marked from early on and was always watched. If I was starting to limp there was usually a year head or vice principal who'd appear and remind me of the school rules :rolleyes: Until 3rd year we were pretty constantly supervised - even at breaks. Tbh trying to sneak around and surreptitiously take medication I had every right to take was less appealing than just going home and crawling back into bed with painkillers and hot water bottles.

When I got that bit older I kinda realised that they'd have an awfully hard time doing anything about it if I did just bring painkillers with me and take them. "School suspends student for taking medication prescribed for her". As if. Dunno wtf they were thinking anyway. Kids who've just turned 12 are really easy to manipulate and scare into submission, though, especially when they're already in pain and wanting to go home. Jesus, reading back on that I'm making it sound really awful. It didn't really seem that horrific to go through, but I just think it was really unfair to put me in a situation where it was "stay in pain or go home".

corner of hells

No fireworks in the school , 'cos a headbanger sent a rocket down a corridor one Halloween.
My sister taught in a school that had a rule forbidding pupils coming to school on their horses.

lazygal

bluewolf wrote: »

Which ones did they challenge

Rules about not being able to change to a different teacher. I had a terrible teacher who was incompetent and the principal admitted nothing would be done about her performance due to the unions. They also stood up for us in regard to some religious policies.

[Deleted User]

lazygal wrote: »

Did anyone's parents ever challenge the rules? Mine did, and I admire them for it. I can't imagine letting my child have to suffer because of some I'll conceived rule that makes no sense.

Which ones did they challenge

liz lemoncello

I'm feeling quite fortunate that, as a Canadian, I never had to wear a uniform.

miss no stars wrote: »

The only one that struck me as being genuinely unfair was that you couldn't bring any OTC medication to school (inhalers and insulin only, basically).
......
Making a rule preventing access to medication actually strikes me as really cruel, not just unfair.

How did they enforce this? I would have just tried to carry one of those little pill boxes in my pocket.

lazygal

Did anyone's parents ever challenge the rules? Mine did, and I admire them for it. I can't imagine letting my child have to suffer because of some I'll conceived rule that makes no sense.

NSAman

you were not allowed to move were chalk or the duster to be thrown at you, when you made a mistake at the blackboard, and the foreign students were told to smile or get out of the way of the blackboard as that particular teacher claimed not to be able to see them otherwise.

miss no stars

The only one that struck me as being genuinely unfair was that you couldn't bring any OTC medication to school (inhalers and insulin only, basically). Which might sound fine, but they were completely inflexible on it even on a case by case basis and I have a disorder that means I tend to be in some degree of pain (anywhere from mild to severe) most of the time and my treatment consisted of ibuprofen (& paracetamol if particularly bad) as required with 4 hours between doses. But because it was a painkiller the school wouldn't let me carry them (fair enough, don't necessarily trust a 12 year old not to accidentally overdose or OD in deperation due to pain), nor would they allow me to store them in the school office and get them as required. Mum queried it when I was in first year and fainted during assembly and was told that if a pupil is sick they're to see the school receptionist (who's not qualified to dispense medication!!). So when I did go to the receptionist looking for painkillers I was basically told "school policy says I can't give you any painkillers". So I had to option of going back to class (in tears from the pain) or going home. So because of a stupid school rule that students can't carry painkillers on them my attendance never went above 75% until I got old enough that I told them where to go with their rule. At which point I was already getting sick with something else. Making a rule preventing access to medication actually strikes me as really cruel, not just unfair.