Most ridiculous rule when you were at school

[Anotherrungup]

I was born in the 70s. Boys weren’t allowed to wear long trousers until they were in junior school! Thermal comfort was a privilege reserved for older children! At senior school it was ‘proving’ to the teacher that you’d had a shower after games - creepy as fuck.

OMG yes. I had forgotten this. Old fashioned school in Wiltshire

1960s - boys were not allowed to stand at the bottom of the stairs in case they could see up girls' skirts. Boys and girls were not allowed to stand closer than 3ft (this was a rough rule nobody measured it). Girls were not allowed to wear patent leather shoes in case they reflected their underwear.

We thought these rules were stupid at the time but in view of the number of reported sexual assaults on girls these days maybe they were very sensible. I'm still not sure about the shoes one though.

We had a one way system in the corridors.So in Y10, I was ALWAYS late to Spanish. Because it was right next door to my English room, but in the wrong direction. No exceptions, I had to walk round the entire school.

Non really
I'm a baby boomer. Teachers were fun and more approachable.. both boys and teachers had long hair.. we all seemed to behave.. no strict rules on uniform/ PE kits etc. We did our O levels.. had career advice.. option to go to 6th form/ college/ apprenticeships etc. I loved school! And still meet up with old school friends.. we have all retired.. unfortunately some have passed away..
I can't remember bullying or anything like that.

Having to open our towels after showering to prove we were wet, not just on our shoulders above the towel. Then about 2 minutes to get dry and arrive at next lesson on time.
For a few weeks, having to run 4 times round the athletics track before being allowed to play tennis (so I only got to play tennis if I cheated).
Fountain pens only, very messy.
I think there were rules for the length of a split in our skirts.
Not being allowed to skip PE due to very severe period pain.

I was born in the 60s and went to a 250yo school with some very odd ideas.

-Hats and blazers must be worn in public. Or in winter, navy cotton gaberdine coats instead. Waterproof coats were for wimps.

-White tennis knickers with regulation 5 lines of lace must be worn under tennis skirts.

-Sturdy grey PE knickers must be worn under hockey skirts.

-Bras must be white or taupe and FULL CUP!😁

Despite their obsession with the exact uniform, they failed to notice that making 15yos wear gym slips (think St Trinians) made us a target for every pervert in the county.

Not being allowed in Woolworths in school uniform and NEVER be seen in Kelly's Milk Bar, which was next to a cinema that only showed porn so Kelly's did attract a certain type of clientel....

When girls took options, one of our 'options,' had to be Home Economics.

Oh, and hems must be no more than 4" above or below the knee. If the offending item of clothing was suspected of being longer or shorter, one was required to kneel in the corridor while the senior mistress produced a tape measure.
If non-regulation, having to take off gymslip or skirt, put on lab coat, and rehem the gymslip/skirt in the HE room at lunchtime 😠

You’ve reminded me of the knickers rule 🤣🤣

Ours were waste high burgundy numbers
We had regular checks to make sure we were wearing them
These weren’t just for sports either

We had bottle green PE knickers with our name embroidered on them

Embroidered ! That's posh. We had to sew name labels in ours. Iron-on labels were not acceptable.

I felt ridiculously racy and self indulgent when I came to iron labels into my ds' uniform. 😂

At my convent school in the 1980s the highest levels of ridiculousness were reserved for the PE “games” kit rules.

We played netball and hockey in the winter and there was a different uniform for each, plus different shirts and socks depending if we were playing “house” or “form” that week woe betide you if you accidentally brought in the wrong kit.
You absolutely weren’t allowed to wear the wrong one and had to play in your underwear.

They prevented you from borrowing someone else’s by making you embroider your full name on everything, and having 6 different house colours.

So for hockey and netball the black skirts had a different number of pleats and they would count them. And if we were playing “house” then your shirt was white with a house colour stripe for netball but full-coloured in house colours for hockey, but both were plain white for “form” days. And black hockey socks for form days, white socks always for netball but black socks with house colour stripe for house hockey.
Then we wore “gym knickers” under our skirts. Plain black for form, black with house colour stripe for house. 🤯

Nobody ever worked out the algorithm for deciding which lesson would be which of the 4 possibilities, though rumour abounded it was tied to the church calendar and date of Easter.

All girls grammar school in the 60s:

Black cotton short-sleeved gym romper (like a more baggy leotard) for PE and we had to embroider our full name on the back in large letters so it could be seen across the gym.

Velour boater hats with a ribbon worn in the first and second year - and gymslips in those years too.

We had to make our own PE skirt in sewing lessons - full box pleats! (Do a twirl on the hockey field and you were showing your navy blue gym knickers to all and sundry.)

After a spate of purses being stolen out of bags and coats, it was decreed that every girl should (somehow) sew a zipped pocket into her skirt. I presume they wanted you to unpick part of the seam and put a pocket and zip in, but it's not an easy thing for most people to do. These were checked in registration by form tutors, and I think they must have realised how unreasonable it was so when we just showed them the skirt's zip fastener they just said OK and ticked the box.

Only PE kit for inside & outside. There was no PE hoodie, jumper, sweatshirt. Bare arms & legs.

One winter day playing netball. Ruddy freezing, snowing, windy. We were in airtex short sleeved shirts and netball skirts, short socks & plimsolls.
Teacher stood there in full length (faux I hope) fur coat with matching muffler and hat (yes, really) telling us it wasn't cold and to get on with the game. I swear she hated us.

Not being allowed to wear trousers.

Having home work crossed out or torn out of exercise books if any of it was written in the wrong colour ink. The main part of the writing had to be in blue ink, notes in black and key notes in red.
We had to write on alternate lines so the teacher could make any corrections or comments on the blank line. If this was forgotten he would rip the page out and the work had to be redone.
My geography teacher was a complete loon.

Teachers standing at either end of the communal showers to make sure we had a shower after PE. There was never any hot water and the showers were grim. We weren’t allowed out until the teachers were convinced we were clean.
Only ever being allowed to wear the regulation shorts and polo shirt for games, hockey socks were only permitted if playing hockey. Didn’t matter how cold or if it was raining.

A male teacher who insisted on giving all the girls a kiss and cuddle on their birthday, boys got a handshake

The one way system of walking around the school seemed logical to me in general, but the no ifs and buts around it didn’t. It was madness that there would always be a class a week the class was late for. The rule was for ease of flow, but had the opposite effect when the next lesson was next door. We also got a detention if we took our coats off inside, rather than before coming in as it made people look untidy?! Coming in soaked in a downpour whilst waiting for the bottleneck of people taking coats off at the entrance was daft. You then had to put your coat on the floor in a pile whilst you had detention and carry your now covered in footprints “tidy” coat out with you.

@ForkHandlesNotFourCandlesthanks. Learn something new every day!

I wonder what rules in schools today kids/teachers/parents will see as ridiculous. Enforcing some of the more pointless rules must have been like nails down a blackboard for some teachers.

Your fringe wasn't allowed to touch your eyebrows

Whats ks ?

Re the walking down corridors.

My mum told me the reason why we had to walk on the right hand side of a corridor and never down the middle
My school changed from Convent to state the year before I joined but was still full of nuns and the old rules

As my mum was a nun ( past tense long story , and before that a young mother in a mother and baby home 🤯 in Ireland run by nuns )
she said
you brushed your right shoulder on the corridor wall and should never be so arrogant to take the centre.
It was about being humble and showing respect for your elders. In mums priory the centre was for the prioress or visitors and in our school for the teachers

I was born in the 60’s , our school uniform included wearing 2 pairs of knickers white underneath and navy blue on top no idea what that was about

No walking on the grass at breaks if there had been even a couple of drops of rain.
So you’d regularly have the whole school crowded onto the concrete paths in glorious sunshine, desperate to race around the field or play football, whilst the headmaster patrolled to make sure that not even a toe touched a blade of grass. Crazy.

No hair brushing on the school service bus. Shoes had to stay on at breaktime even if you were sitting on the playing fields. The no smoking rule was interesting as they had to catch you with a lit cigarette, so as long as you stubbed it out before they got to you, you weren't in trouble (as long as you had your shoes on). The trick was always knowing how far to push back and who with.

Ah, regulation school knickers. We had that in primary. Horrible nylon things in burgundy, comfy cotton knickers underneath.

My husband’s was no swimwear allowed during swimming lessons! Boys’ school

This was in the late 1970s. Different (scarring) times.