Stupid rules you remember at your school

[notedbiscuits]

OK I remember these:
. If you had PE last period, you had to get changed before leaving. For two years (before I moved to the next village), I lived ten minute walk from high school to home. I wasn't going to get changed into uniform for me to get changed 10-15 mins later. Behind the mobile changing rooms, there was a gap between hedge and fence which brought you onto the road. Myself and a few who lived a similar distance to me (though in different directions) used to sneak off behind the changing rooms.

, One way system. This was to prevent fights in a couple of corridors. For about 6 weeks I was on crutches and twice a week I had a lesson in one classroom and then in another classroom, which was the furthest away in the one way system. I wasn't allowed to hobble in the opposite direction. I had to go around the entire school.

. If unable to do PE, had to stand outside (if class was doing outside PE). Not allowed a chair or stool to sit on when I had crutches. Wasn't allowed a coat either. Why? Fortunately both PE sessions were last period and my parents took me home after the previous lesson. Why couldn't I sit in the library as that was manned all the time.

. Toilets assigned to different year groups. No idea why that happened. I had very very heavy periods during this time and had a night time pad I had to change every 1-2 hours. I had to visit the loos for whatever year group I was in at the time, going around the one way system and got a rollocking from the teachers for being late.

I went to this school 92-95 for info.

Your memory is insane. I barely remember what my teachers names were!

We had a one way corridor too, it made sense because it was narrow, but the wierd bit was they let the 6th formers go both ways. So you had these massive 18 year old rugby team lads practically trampling on the little year 7 kidd who were trying to go the "right" way

It was chaos

Denim jackets were banned. Despite the uniform policy stating that 'black, blue, dark green or cream coats' were allowed. I think the argument was that denim jackets were a fashion item and therefore not acceptable uniform.

However we all decorated our backpacks with badges and pins etc and that was allowed...!

We didn't have a one way system but certain stairwells were deemed up or down only. I once got told off for going up the downstairs - even though no one else was around!

This was early 00s.

We had to move around the school in absolute silence (it was a convent) and in single file.

We stood when the teacher entered the room.

A prayer was said before each lesson. Imagine. 8 lessons a day. PLUS we had chapel every morning. In hindsight it was a cult 😂😉

Yeah we had the one way system. It made sense between classes because of how busy it got but if a teacher spotted you going the wrong way during a class (e.g if you’d been sent on an errand) when you were literally the only person there you’d still get told off. So dumb.

We had a list of school rules pinned up by the dining hall. On the list was

"No expectorating in public"

As a non fluent English speaker, in the days before google, i had zero idea what it meant. One day i asked my English friends and they didn't have a clue either. It wasn't in my English - native language dictionary. For some reason i spent 2 years wondering about this mysterious rule, until i finally just looked it up in a normal dictionary.

That those with packed lunches weren’t allowed to sit with those who had school dinners in the canteen.

i was the only one in my friend group on dinners. I sat with them, a dinner lady tried to get me to move and sit on my own at another table. When I refused she got the school bully teacher who screamed at me in the canteen for 20 minutes.

aresholes.

Kids having to wear school PE stuff if they forgot their PE kit.

'No black bras under white school shirts.'

Yeah, ok.

DD has dance, lunch, pe. Lunch is 30mins long.

They have to get changed back into their uniform for lunch. Then back into pe kit half another later.

We weren't allowed to hold hands in the corridor. Or other forms of "canoodling"

We didn't have any of these rules.

Scotland the 80s

Lining up at the office if you were five minutes late as roll call was done straight away in form group. The line took so long that you could miss all of 20 minutes form group and be well into first period. I ignored it and just went straight to class.

It's easy to dis rules.

But don't assume a rule is bad just because you don't understand it.

There was one corridor which pupils weren’t allowed to walk down during break time (I think it had a load of senior teacher’s offices on it and they didn’t want loads of noise outside). Well, actually, there was a door half way down the corridor you couldn’t go through. You could walk up to the door (to get to the teachers’ offices, or look at the music lesson timetables which were on the wall, or go in to the medical room) on both sides, but if you were caught going through the door you were in trouble! You had to go round the other way which involved going outside in the cold. Unless it was lesson time in which case you were allowed down there.

I’m struggling to write it in a way which makes sense because it was all so convoluted and bizarre!!

Jumpers only allowed under blazers. So jumper plus blazer- ok, blazer only- ok, neither- ok, jumper only- not allowed.

I remember...

If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?
You! Yes, you behind the bike stands
Stand still, laddy!

Actually, now I think about it, that was Pink Floyd - I took sandwiches.

Having to go to assembly and be told there was a god and having to pretend to pray and sing to this god even though you were not a Christian (not a church school). Despite your parents asking repeatedly if you could read in the library instead. Absolutely no consideration given to other beliefs 😡

Rather less serious, not being allowed to wear white plimsolls until top juniors, it had to be black before then.

We weren't allowed to walk in more than groups of 2 abreast. So if you had 4 friends you had to have 2 in front and 2 behind. I remember constantly almost tripping up over each other as we tried to hear what each side were saying when walking anywhere.

We also weren't allowed certain posters on our walls (boarding school) which seemed oddly dependant on whichever matron you got. I had my magazine poster of Joey from NKOTB ripped off the wall and screwed up into the bin by one battleaxe and remember being furious!

We also had evening prayers once a week and a fair amount of African students who boarded. Obviously their version of worship often included clapping and actually having fun...I remember having to stay and copy out a prayer because my row joined in with "raucous clapping" in the hymn "Shine Jesus Shine" of all things 😆

Convent school late 60s. Warned that wearing patent shiny shoes could reflect our underwear and cause poor innocent men to have indecent thoughts . And it would be all our fault 😧

I don't remember any particular stupid rules at my school,but DH told me his school had a six inch rule ,ie if pupils were in a mixed group of boys and girls a distance of at least 6 inches had to be maintained between boys and girls.

We had a white line painted on the ground down the middle of the playground, boys on one side and girls on the other.

Liberal school in the 80s. No uniform but we weren't allowed to wear steel toed capped shoes, high heels above a certain height, or wear anything provocative or offensive. Also no running in the corridors or smoking in school grounds (outside the gate was fine).

I got sent to the head for not wearing my blazer in assembly

We had a full one way system at school it was NOT a stupid rule, it may have seemed like it if you wanted to go a short distance the wrong way at a quiet time but I was at the school before it was implemented and it was fucking terrifying moving between classrooms before the one way system.

It was like a school aged mash up between the mosh pit at monsters of rock and the Hillsborough disaster in the busiest areas with large numbers of pupils trying to force themselves out through a door while a similar number tried to force their way in. Year 7s would be struggling to breathe while some year 10 lad used his army boots as a weapon and a year 9 attempted crowd surfing. If you tripped on the steps you were going to be trampled.

The one way system was probably the best thing they ever did.