What with school inspections, visits from important people and parents, schools aim to be more than above average, which they may achieve or ultimately fail at through its students and the rules these students are obliged to follow (OR ELSE).
Without further ado, here are some of the dumbest school rules from real schools:
Numero Uno: Bringing expensive things such as pieces of jewelry, branded school supplies, toys, school bags and rubber shoes, cellular phones, headphones, radios, mp4’s, iPods, laptops and other electronic gadgets is not allowed.
Expensive jewelry, branded school supplies, toys, school bags and rubber shoes are not allowed. Ok school, but what if I want to roll up in my Rolex and Yeezys? Or what if I’m feeling a homemade choker and my new imported pens? Sorry I don’t own another brand of watch? Sorry I want to wear a necklace to school because a relative/important person gave it to me? Sorry you feel like you have to constantly check my neck and wrists just in case I make someone jealous for owning a piece of jewelry when I wear these things because they look nice and aesthetically pleasing?
Cellular phones and any other electronic gadgets are not allowed. Have you ever heard of emergencies? Oh, that’s right, in cases of emergency concerning our families we won’t be able to do shit except study. (Basically, I had a classmate who brought her phone to school, was reprimanded for it and when she tried to reason that a relative was at the hospital, the teacher said: “If something happens, you won’t be able to do anything, but stay here in school and study and pray.”) Apparently, ’emergencies’ are not an excuse for students to bring their phones to school even if it was recommended by their parents. Where is the logic? I don’t know; it must be down the trash chute where my school handbook might be. What right does a school have to limit the communication between a student and their family, especially in an emergency? Where is the equality when teachers use their cellphones when they please, but are supposed to be ‘role models’ for students?
Second: No colored streaks dyed or tinted hair. Boyish haircut/hairstyle is not allowed.
What about freedom of expression? What is a ‘boyish haircut’? Since when did haircuts have genders? If one feels like letting their hair down, then by all means leave it down. If one feels like dyeing their hair a certain color because it shows their personality or they have something to say, then by all means dye it. If one feels like having a shorter haircut than most because of maybe the weather, or maybe it suits their personality, or for any reason at all, then by all means have it as short as you want. Hair styles are hair styles; they are not categorized into “for males” and “for females”. Hair styles are simply lengths, colors, straightness or curliness. They do not define whether or not this person is a girl or a boy or a tomboy or a gay. In fact, everyone has a right to freedom of expression that does not only entail verbal communication, but a person’s actions and treatment towards themselves and others. No one should be able to limit anyone’s expression for uniformity or school accreditation.
Number three: Students must follow the proper (never-ending) dress code.
Sleeveless shirts or blouses, spaghetti straps, body hugging articles of clothing, thin or see through tops or dresses, hanging shirts or blouses, colored undergarments, shirts or blouses with indecent or obscene prints and images of rebellion are not allowed. (For our school, we’re required to wear school related shirts, meaning shirts that have the school logo on it.) So technically, we’re allowed to wear pajamas to school.
One time, I had a classmate who wore ripped jeans to school and was reprimanded for it and the teacher said: “This is a learning institution. We’re not supposed to wear cool clothes.” Mind you, an adult referred to ripped jeans as a “cool” piece of clothing.
Another writer has already written about school dress codes, which you can find here. I absolutely agree with everything she says and it’s shameful that women have to adjust to male culture, especially in an all girls school. Fashion? Woman empowerment? Feminism? Gender equality? Again, freedom of expression?
Fourth: Bringing of musical instruments, books, magazines or playing cards without permission is not allowed.
How do you even justify a rule that literally does not allow you to make music or read literature, all of which are basic things, part of education and natural to a person without consent?
Other school rules that don’t make sense:
- No nail polish – not even the clear one.
- No junk food (sodas, chips etc.)
- No relationships.
- Multiple piercings, aside from one on each ear, are not allowed.
Overall, schools are institutions meant to relate values and impart education that will be useful to people in the real world. They are not meant to limit people’s creativity or expression in any way or form, instead open them to new possibilities and broaden their horizons as per the reason why they are required before attempts at the real world and its different paths. Schools are significant as institutions of learning, not a society that students must conform to or makes decisions for an individual who is capable of knowing who they are and the rights and wrongs.
