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People Describe The Most Bizarre Rule Enforced At Their School

People Describe The Most Bizarre Rule Enforced At Their School
Photo by MChe Lee on Unsplash

Not every rule is current nor should it be followed.

Unfortunately, for the hell of it, some people just enforce clearly archaic and bizarre rules for their own comforts or thrills.

Most of these totalitarians can unfortunately be found in schools, working with kids. These people love to sweep kids away into the principal's office or to detention.


u/ChipFan111 asked:

What was the most bizarre school rule you had in your school?

Here were some of those answers.

Name-Calling

Our handbook stated that you could only address teachers as, "Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, Dr., or Coach". The 60 year old woman (who was in no way involved with athletics) that taught biology tried to write a referral to one of my friends who insisted on calling her Coach for insubordination. Admin couldn't do anything about it, so they removed Coach from the list of acceptable names and re-issued the handbook.

GobbleGobbleDotCom

Continuing Odd Rules

Around my last year of primary school (Brit here), they suddenly added a rule where you can't talk during your lunch. They said it was so we'd have more time to play afterwards, but you'd have to wait to be dismissed first so how long it takes to eat doesn't matter at all

At first everyone was silent apart from a few whispers behind the teachers backs, but then it transitioned into everyone talking quietly. I think the teachers gave in at that point as they said that we can talk as long as it's quiet, then everyone learned to gradually get louder so by the time I left it was back to normal level.


At my prep school I went to for a year after that, we managed to get Rock Paper Scissors banned, it's a long story...

So towards the end of the year I spent at my prep school, my year group was on a coach coming back from a school trip (each year was small enough to fit onto one coach - I think the entire school only had about 100 or so people), where behind me were two classmates were playing Rock Paper Scissors with a twist: if you get Rock you punch the other person, if Paper you slap them and if Scissors you pinch them. This didn't take long to spread around the whole year and eventually the whole school was doing it. It became so popular that in the last couple of weeks, the headteacher made an announcement in an assembly that [forgot what they called this version of Rock Paper Scissors] is banned as it was getting out of hand. I though this was fair enough but a second later the head said that because [said version of Rock Paper Scissors] comes from the original version, it will be banned in its entirety. After that everyone was talking about if they should do Rock Paper Scissors just to see if they get punished (doubt they would though)

BigFatManiacPrat

Hair Don't Matter For School, Yo

I was told my hair was too long for school in I think it was 6th grade, so I shaved half my head. Was told it was a distracting hairstyle. I asked them to name the hairstyle and got detention. I then shaved the rest which wasn't what they wanted either apparently. I caught hell from a few teachers until it grew out some. Controlling a child's appearance is borderline abuse in my opinion. ESPECIALLY if you aren't their parent or guardian.

laporkra

Blanket Actions

Two that both happened in high school: No high fives, as administration considered it bullying. They never once explained how, but it was.

They banned any drink that wasn't water or plain milk. They would actually check lunch bags as kids entered to make sure they weren't sneaking anything in. They were especially hard on hot beverages. The years before, high schoolers could have coffee/tea from home, but then they became convinced we were adding sugar to it and banned it. I was getting over laryngitis once and had a travel mug of hot water with honey and lemon like my doctor suggested, and the b*tch of a gym teacher snatched it and dumped it even though I had a doctor's note.

Bonus: we were a K-12 school. They gave 18 year old seniors the same size portions as 6 year old kindergarteners. Aka 3 chicken nuggets and four carrot sticks, then they'd b*tch at the older kids if they brought snacks and stuff to eat

kcvngs76131

Europeans Don't Have It All Figured Out

You had to finish all the food on your plate. The worst part was that my teacher made me put on foods that I didn't like eating, so I told her that I will get nauseous but she didn't listen. It didn't take long until I got so nauseous that I threw up all over the table.

daystooshort

Memes Forever

Not necessarily a bizarre rule, but in 8th grade my school literally had to remind everyone to only use their google drive for school purposes because some student used over a terabyte of storage for memes.

HDMemes

I wonder who it was, HDMemes

WASD-ESL

Public Parking Passes, Pshaw!

Off the top of my head, my high school had a rule that you had to register your car with the school if you wanted to drive to school. That wouldn't be totally weird until you consider that my high school was in a very urban area, and only had one small lot that was for faculty only. Students had to park on the street.

So in other words, we had to get a pass from the school in order to park on the public streets.

BananerRammer

Chestnuts Forbidden

"Anyone caught with a chestnut gets suspended."

There was a chestnut tree (wild, "horse-chestnut") in the schoolyard, so one of the activities during recess was of course having chestnut wars. When they were in season, as soon as we'd get out, everyone would pick up as many as they found, take cover, and start launching them at each other. We were all often bruised by it but no one was a specific target, so it wasn't bullying. I guess we all saw it as more of a friendly sport. It was the status quo and the school didn't seem to mind much, until someone threw one so hard it cracked the window on a teacher's car. A kid admitted it was him but still, it turned into a big thing and they got strict about not allowing it.

After years and years of not seeing each other, a few months ago (by an unrelated sad circumstance), a handful of us from class got reunited for a lunch and walk about town. Someone mentioned the chestnut incident, and as we talked about it, one of the guys said "It was actually me who cracked that window, I'm sure of it. I threw that chestnut and followed it with laser focus until it hit that car by accident. I knew it was me but no one else did, and then the other kid admitted to it. I never learned why he did, but of course I never complained.

valsday

Knee Socks As A Punishment

Just to bear in mind, this was an all-girls grammar school:

Shoes could only be black, brown or navy blue. This also applied to hairbands (hair ties). No trainers (sneakers) or boots.

Socks (white or navy) had to be pulled up at all times.

Write only in fountain pen, pencil is allowed for notes or draft versions. If you make a mistake, cross it through with a ruler and put brackets around it.

You have to 'cover' your exercise books - most people used wrapping paper or sticky-backed plastic.

G01ngDutch

Paid Vacation

In 11th and 12th grade we had four "get out of jail cards" per half year. You could hand those in after missing up to two days without an excuse.

The problem was that if you were late for more than 45 minutes you had to use one of those. So if I overslept and calculated that I will miss more than 45 minutes I decided that I might as well stay home for a day or two. And I wasn't the only.

MistakeNot___

Jump Around!

We had a uniform and if you had your jumper (sweater) on you didn't have to wear the tie, but if you took your jumper off you had to wear a tie. Fair enough I guess.

But you had to ask permission from the teacher to take your jumper off and you had to wear your jumper between classes in the hallway. So on a summer's day you would have to ask 7 different teachers if you could take your jumper off, and they could say no. Even if you had a tie. It seems bizarre to me that teacher could tell literal adults (18 year olds) that they couldn't take their jumpers off.

ShreddedKnees

Ye Olde Sexism

We were an all boys Grammar School, Liverpool UK. Next to our school, to the right, was an all girl's school. The powers that be did not want us mingling with the girls. Unless you lived in that direction, you were not allowed to turn right out of our school. You had to have a 'turn right pass' which you had to show to a prefect who was stationed at the school entrance to stop you turning right.

Esoteric_Erric

Bok Bok Bok

It isn't so much the rule that's bizarre, but the reason.

About a decade ago, several students worked together to acquire two chickens and tag them, then release them into the school. They went around the campus for most of a day before they were caught.

When they caught one, it was labeled "1". The other was labeled "3".

They spent a solid week asking around local officials if they had seen a chicken labeled "2". They checked the vents, the closets, worked with police, everything.

And thus the rule "No senior pranks allowed" was put into effect.

RedSky764

Forbidden Fruit

There were a few bizarre ones in my school, but this is the one that sticks with me....

In the middle of high school, they passed a rule of, "No black walnuts or pecans." There were a lot of pecan and black walnut trees at the school. Hell, the school planted some of them. So, us doofy teenagers would either throw them at each other, or hoard them in our pockets and crack and eat them in class. They were so strict about it that teachers would interrogate you any time you had a bulging pocket (thinking you were hiding them to eat).

What made it even more bizarre was they said that they were worried about students getting hurt by others throwing the walnuts or the pecans. Most of us laughed about it because our school has a trap shooting team, and one of our biggest fundraisers was a gun auction. Like, tree nuts will somehow hurt you, but students handling and shooting guns won't? That's not even mentioning our show team, where students handle livestock like hogs, cattle, horses, and goats.

SillyBlackSheep

Fun Is Prohibited

ABSOLUTELY NO MUSIC DEVICES ON THE BUS. if we went on a field trip, teachers would come around with a trash bag to collect your portable CD player and then give it to you when the trip was over.

Alone-Blueberry

U Yell U Cuss U Group 5+ U Out!

At my middle school, a group of 3+ all wearing the same color (regardless of the color) was considered "gang affiliation", and would lead to the group getting dress-coded (having to change into school-branded PE sweats or something, I can't fully remember). My friends and I would all wear a specific color once a week (most of the time it was purple) and would try to get as many other kids to join as possible.

Never got dress-coded... they didn't have enough loner outfits.

I also remember my principal giving me a strict talking-to because I had a white shirt that I was having people sign with sharpie at the end of the year instead of a yearbook. She said it was "inappropriate graffiti". In the 7th grade -.-

kenkenmeowmeow

Red Flags That Signal Someone Wasn't Raised Right

"Reddit user spirallinggg asked: 'What immediately tells you that a person wasn't raised right?'"

Two young boys are having a pillow fight
Photo by Allen Taylor

Parents are meant to teach offspring how to survive in this world.

They're meant to guide us on how to be a good member of society.

But either some parents fail, or too many adults don't get the message.

And all that can lead to a mighty dysfunctional adult.

Redditor spirallinggg wanted to hear about the ways we can decipher if others have bad parenting, so they asked:

"What immediately tells you that a person wasn't raised right?"

Basic human decency is a sign of a good upbringing.

Garbage

"They throw trash out a car window."

shershae

"I live on a busy road and I’m so sick of people throwing their trash in front of my house. Some guy tosses out a tall boy beer nearly every workday. I can’t wait to move. Also- so many cigarette butts! We live in a high fire hazard area so I’m worried one of these days they’ll start a fire. I try to go pick up litter twice a month."

Pinkmongoose

Random Aisles

"People who dump refrigerated grocery products on random aisles."

glockops

"I work in a grocery store. The best one I saw was someone who ordered a hot pizza from our pizza station, which is made-to-order. Then abandoned it in the cooler with the refrigerated take-and-bake pizzas we have."

"I get finding stuff from our service case abandoned, it's already cold and our prices are much higher than some people think (the last abandoned item I found was a $20 container of our fresh fruit salad [which comes in pre-cut]), but the pizza station has set menu prices, they should have known what they were getting into before they ordered."

weedtrek

Be Responsible

"Lack of personal accountability. they can never admit wrongdoing on their part. it's always someone else's fault."

Sona-kin

I always told my kids that a mistake doesn't define who you are... but what you do AFTER the mistake DOES. We're human. We're gonna screw up throughout our lives. It's unavoidable. What we can control, however, is choosing to apologize, fix the situation, make amends, etc."

nakedwithoutmyhoodie

Rude

Mean Girls Gossip GIF by Paramount MoviesGiphy

"When they talk badly about someone who hasn’t done anything wrong behind their back."

flowerzforthedead

THIS. I've seen coworkers talking behind the backs of new employees and drawing conclusions about every aspect of their lives. Like, you've seen that person for three days, you MF.

Cold-Load-4388

If you can't say it to their face, then don't say it.

Why do people have to crap talk?

Check Please

Escalate Customer Service GIF by FILMRISEGiphy

"Being super rude to people in any service profession. There is a time and place for actual, appropriate complaints but I see people constantly abuse service staff for no damn reason. Hell, even using 'please' and 'thank you' seems beyond some people. Bums me out."

CaptainLawyerDude

Others

"Lack of consideration for others."

NewVAinvestor1

"A lot of people do not fundamentally understand other people exist. They understand things exist. They understand those things should be referred to as people. But they do not understand those things have an entire existence and experience all their own exactly like them."

Sh3lls

No!

"When they can't take no for an answer."

NerdyPlaneResident

"I'm going to step up and admit to being guilty of this. For the longest time, I had it in my head that persistence pays off. Some of that was pop culture, some of that was tenacity in other areas of my life being rewarded, and then applying that to interpersonal relationships. Older and wiser me, though is more along the lines of learning to let go. It's still a struggle though, working against that original conditioning."

SergeantPsycho

Professions

"When someone looks down at others based on what they do. That just clearly shows that they've learned the same thing from their caregivers."

Leekayleigh_

"Oh yes. My husband took on a second job doing pizza deliveries. A few people laughed at him doing that at his age. They don't laugh when he explains his main job is simple and, deliveries are just driving blasting tunes and adds $900 a month after tax to our income. Then they see all the travel. Usually shuts them up."

CurvePuzzleheaded361

Offensive

For Real Wow GIF by DeStormGiphy

"Zero manners."'

Fuzzteam7

"I took a guy to a family beach condo because he says he never goes to the beach. Let him tag along with our group. Never said thank you one time. I dropped him back off at his house, and I said can you at least say thanks, he was so offended I asked or was trying to force a thank you."

berrey7

"BUT"

"When someone apologizes, and then adds a but onto it. For example, my boss held a meeting among the kitchen staff where he apologized for his attitude, and then added 'But you guys need to understand that I'm a no-bulls**t kind of person.' No sir, that's not how apologies work."

GimmickInfringement1

I hate a BUT.

Either you mean what you offer or don't say it.

man and woman together with boy and girl looking at green trees during day

Ioann-Mark Kuznietsov on Unsplash

Parenting isn't a simple job.

The health, safety and well-being of another human being is on the line. Eventually that human will enter society with all the lessons or traumas of their childhood shaping them.

That's a lot of responsibility.

But even the most well-meaning parents can mess up.

Keep reading...Show less
People on a date
Photo by René Ranisch on Unsplash

Though we mean nothing by it, there's no denying the fact that there are some characteristics, personality types, and behaviors that we find to be a total turn-off when it comes to dating.

The difficult part, though, is that what we find to be unattractive might be an unusual or unexpected thing to point out to someone else. To each their own, right?

Curious about what others' expectations were, Redditor DawnOfLegion1 asked:

"What's the weirdest dating requirement you have?"

Similar Intelligence

"He should be as smart as or smarter than me."

"There's no bigger turnoff than a guy who is noticeably dumber and there's nothing hotter than a guy who is particularly intelligent."

- _hootyowlscissors

"I'll second this. If he's slightly less intelligent, I can deal with it (although it IS a turnoff), but I've had friends date hot dumb guys, and I never got the appeal. At all. Even if the guy was sweet, I just kept thinking I would feel like I was messing with the village id**t. Not my thing at all."

- LeRuseRenard

Completely Available

"I require my date to be single. Not 'we have an understanding', not 'she doesn't understand me', and not 'we're separated and neither of us can afford an apartment on our own.' SINGLE. Not married."

"The last time a guy told me that his wife was okay with it, I told him that I wanted to hear those words from his wife. Never talked to him again."

- INobodyisme

Mind the Rules

"No getting up at 6:00 AM to do CrossFit."

"No drinking and driving."

"No crazy ex that seems to hang around with them a lot."

- Haelifae

One Word: Reciprocity

"Not a requirement, but if I paid for dinner, you paying for two ice creams or coffees isn’t all that bad."

- Soup_and_Rice

"Reciprocity."

"The older I get, the more I realize how important it is that they put in as much effort as I am."

"It doesn't have to be the same thing, have your own style; but I can't be doing all the work, all the time."

"This is with money (buy me dinner sometimes, offer to get my drink), sex (I can be a little more dominant, but you have to initiate sometimes, you have to be into it, I can't do all the work), romance or intimacy (reach out and grab my hand to walk, touch my back sometimes), or communication (text me first just to check in, for once)."

- TheLateThagSimmons

Weird Requirement: Weird

"She must be weird. And I mean truly, the kind of weird that makes other men run away."

- Vamluck

Just Equally Weird

"They have to be a little bit pervy and a little bit weird."

- CherryApple89

"When I was younger, if I was at the bar and there was a guy I thought might be fun to talk to, I would walk up and in the sexiest voice, I would tell them they have the hottest knees I have ever seen on a man."

"10 seconds flat, I would know whether they were someone I wanted to get to know. So I think I have the weird thing down."

- Dull-Geologist-8204

The Importance of Quiet Time

"I wanna be able to just chill with them doing nothing. I've been with someone who always had to be doing something and it got exhausting really fast."

- Shatteredfart

Seems Fair

"Not currently recovering from something."

"All tattoos must be spelled correctly."

"Employed."

"Four-tooth minimum."

- Mohawk60

Staying on Equal Footing

"Not sure how weird it is, but my rule is that I pay for myself every step of the way until we decide to become a couple."

"After that, we can split the bills, or take turns treating each other, etc., if that is what we both choose."

"Too many times I let a guy buy me dinner, and it is somehow implied that I now owe him something. Nope. All done with that."

- One-Internet-1982

"As a man, I have a lot of respect for that. I don't mind paying for dates and such, but I always get a bit of an icky feeling when the woman expects or demands it."

"I prefer more of an equal partnership rather than old-school gender roles, and stuff as basic as, 'Hey, you paid for the last date, let me get this one,' goes such a long way, and I feel like it also shows genuine interest from the other person."

- CaptainFresh27

Willing to Try New Things

"No picky eaters. It’s okay if you’re not a foodie, but I like to cook, and if you won’t give my food a chance, it’s not gonna work out."

- Pandaburn

A Lover of Drama

"If your profile says, 'No drama, please,' I immediately assume you are the drama or are too immature to handle life’s normal ups and downs and consider that to be drama."

- WillowWispWhipped

Intense Passion

"I love it when they have a hyper fixation."

- Unlikely-Base-4989

"The ADD/ADHD community loves you back."

- YakitoriChicken93

Knowing Your Own Limits

"No horse girls."

"I've got nothing against it, but it’s always very important to them and I’m too terrified of horses to be properly supportive, lol (laughing out loud)."

- Former-Finish4653

What's in a Name?

"They cannot have the same name as my sister or my mom."

"Alternatively, my name is unisex and a girl with my name is a turn on."

- Smellymyhand

Quite the Commitment

"I've decided that anybody I plan to spend my life with has to be willing to buy and ride a tandem bike with me."

- Sheepherder_7648

Despite the prompt being "weird requirements," some of these make a lot of sense, and more people might be adding these to their list of requirements after reading this.

But others are slightly more unexpected and likely fall under the "to each their own" category.

People on a busy street
Photo by Jason Wong on Unsplash

We all find ourselves having an unexpected run-in with someone we know on the street every now and then.

In some cases, it's a pleasant surprise and plans are immediately made to catch up.

In other cases, you dig out the first excuse you can to keep on moving, as this particular individual was not someone you hoped would re-enter your life.

Then, of course, there are the times you run into an ex.

Whether you ended things amicably or acrimoniously, it's always going to be an awkward encounter.

Just how awkward it will be, however, depends on your reaction.

Redditor rageondad was curious to hear how people would react if they unexpectedly saw their ex on the street, leading them to ask:

"You see your first ex on the street, what do you do?"

Nothing But Happy Memories...

"1st ex: say hi, nice conversation."

"All good."

"2nd ex: hide from her again, like I did that one time at the gas station."- jfg1435

Who?

"Ignore him because he’s not worth saying hi to."

"And I wouldn’t care about him at all."- Big-Elevator2491

One Way To Handle It...

"Start taking a sh*t on the side walk immediately."- ceiling_fanzz

Excuse Me What GIF by BounceGiphy

No Harm, No Foul

"Say hi."- hot-breadfruit_poop

"And ask how they are doing."

"I'm a curious creature, what can I say?"- Lamacorn

Nothing But Excitement

"Give each other a huge hug."

"We're going to see each other next week for the first time in 25 years."

"It'll be good."

"We've remained friends this whole time, so we're both looking forward to it."- riceme0112358

"Say hi, give him a hug, ask him what he's doing in town."- m00nf1r3

Couple Love GIF by PantayaGiphy

Ouch!

"Didn't you die?" -Reddit

"Wonder who dug her up."- 8urfiat

"Walk On By..."

"Just keep walking."- MythicalMicrowave

Walking By Moe Szyslak GIF by Football AustraliaGiphy

Even If It Means J-Walking

"Cross the street."- no_days_grace

Avoiding Your Ex In Five D's...

"Dodge, dip, duck, dive, and dodge."- catinatank·

The Passage Of Time

"I would wish her well if I recognized her."

"It’s been over 20 years since I’ve seen her."

"It’s not like we parted on bad terms or anything."- Fangsong_37

Lana Parrilla GIF by Paramount+Giphy

Go For The Jugular

"You've sure gotten old."- drpepper1992

About Face

"Run."- saus_blu

Remain Amicable

"Have a chat."

"We are still friends."- Mentalfloss1

Meg Ryan Comedy GIF by Coolidge Corner TheatreGiphy

Of course, the worst element of surprise is having no idea how we might react.

Try as we might to plan just what we'd do should we ever run into an ex, we can't possibly know what will actually happen should that moment arrive.

Though, hopefully it won't ever lead to defecating on the street.