Top 10 Most Pointless Rules in School

The Top Ten
1 Uniforms required

Holy crap I feel bad for those kids who go to schools where they have to wear uniforms...
I'm lucky I don't go to a uniform school, because I like to express myself, I like to wear hoodies, jeans, pants, etc. and I DO NOT like to wear skirts (poor girls who have to wear skirts because it's part of their uniform...), also, I only wear dresses when it's a special occasion. School uniforms limit self expression. You can't really express yourself with school uniforms, and in some schools, even if you modify a teeny-tiny bit of your uniform, the teachers will yell at you for not "dressing properly". Oh yeah, also, I heard some schools only limit their students to wearing 3 colors only. That just sucks because I have a LOT of colorful clothes in my closet, and like I said, I like to express myself. I agree, school uniforms are pointless and limit self expression.

We have to wear uniforms at my school and they suck, the girls aren't allowed to wear shorts after 5th grade because it is "distracting" to the boys, we have to wear dress-type pants and we can only wear three colors of school pants: black, navy, or blue. We have to wear full-color polo shirts, but we are not allowed to wear royal blue or red because they are considered "gang colors". we are not allowed to wear hoodies, or sweaters with words of them... we are not allowed to have unnatural hair colors, facial piercings, or showing tattoos. We are also not allowed to wear open-toed shoes. The only exception to our uniform is if a student has a leg injury and cannot wear school pants, or if you are a part of a sport and you are going to practice. We must also wear ID's all day, every day, and if you lost yours or forgot it, you can pay $1 for a temporary paper ID or you can spend $20 on a brand new ID. Side note: (we are not allowed to have our phones out except for lunch, or if the ...more

Get this... I roll my skirt shorter, not because I want to show my butt, like everyone thinks I do, but because it's literally down to the bottom half of my legs. It looks bad on me, simple, and gets in the way, and simply makes me feel horrid. People should please stop assuming it's to be inappropriate.

My school shirt is itchy, especially the collar. Yet we're expected to have them up. I love wearing shirts with words on them but can't because of it. We're allowed to wear shirts under it but the words won't show. And I prefer clothes which are mostly cotton which have some spandex. But our school shirts are half cotton and half polyester, which my skin is sensitive to. But if I tell them, I'll get sent to the principal's office

2 No bathroom breaks

This is by far the stupidest rule I've ever heard. Even a couple of times when I've gone to the bathroom before class ( and during the break) so I don't have to go during class they still get upset at me for not telling them that I went to the bathroom during the BREAK. And we only get like less than five minutes to get from one side of the school to the next (depending on where your classroom is). And it's literally a break between classes, which is a time to change classrooms, stretch your legs, get a drink of water and go to the bathroom. So why do they get so upset when I don't tell them where I was when I come into the classroom? Its obvious that I either didn't have enough time to walk from one class to the next( since my school is big) before the bell rang or I went to the bathroom BEFORE class started so I didn't "disrupt" the class by asking to go DURING the lesson.

So in my school we get bathroom breaks, but we have this dumb rule for bathroom.
No using the restroom before class starts.
No using the restroom during passing periods.
No using the restroom during lunch.
No using the restroom the first 10 minutes of class and the last 10 minutes of class.

But we were allowed to use the restroom in the middle of class and after school. It makes no sense! I ride the bus, and I want to do good in school so I'm not going to miss the lesson! I still break this rule, but they've started putting signs out saying "no using the restroom before class." And they have teachers who block the restrooms.

I think all schools need to let us go to the bathroom because if you don't go and hold it for a long time, you can get REALLY sick and even get an infection. Teachers, if you're reading this, please let your students go to the bathroom. Do you want your students to get hurt and have to go to the hospital? No. Using the bathroom is a human RIGHT, NOT A privelige (or however you spell it)

This is the worst of all. Teachers don't let students use the bathroom so that they don't miss out on the turtorials and teachers assume that if they go, they'll cheat. If a student holds his or her pee for too long, they'll get sick and hurt. Heath comes first. Using the bathroom isn't a privilege, it's a human right.

3 No self-defence against bullies

This has yet to be even more stupid than the other rules on this list. It's as stupid as the bathroom rules above.

Let's get the obvious out of the way: Bullies can be expected at any school. It's the teacher's job to make us aware of the bullying situation and how to prevent it from us and anyone else.

If there is a school has this rule, then some of the new kids or a person the bully does not like will have the worst time of their life.

I don't understand why this is even allowed. my friend got pulled by her ponytail so I came in and remover a chunk of her hair my gym teacher then came and lectured me but not them like what are you serious right now. I hate this rule and sometimes I even wonder if my school is a catholic school because 2 students got caught with vapes!

I heard about this stupid school in a newspaper. The story was a 10 year old kid or something came up to a smaller kid and pushed him to the ground and hit him. So the little kid said don't push me and kicked the bully. Then the idiot teachers made him apologize to the bully and they both stayed after school. Then they told the mom that her son was in a fight and when she found out what actually happened she was really mad. It's just so stupid that some schools tell you to tell a teacher or roll up into a ball or something dumb. What if you're cornered by like 3 kids. You can't exactly tell a teacher then. My grandpa said that he was bullied by a kid in school so he just punched the kid and he didn't bother him anymore. I wish you were allowed to do that now it's the best way to stop bullying.

A couple weeks ago they gave us a pep talk on how to deal with bullies. They said that you can't defend yourself at all. You can't touch him. And I'm like, What? Are you supposed to just stand there and wait politely for him to hit you? Everyone booed the teacher when she said that. There was practically a public outcry that day. It was insane. The next week some kid I know got cornered by six 8th graders. He did all the stupid stuff they told him to do- tell them to stop, call for a teacher, don't resist at all. The guys just laughed at him and beat him black and blue. The teachers didn't even do anything. I saw the whole thing. It was crazy. Several students were suspended in the days afterward for speaking out against the stupid role, and a schoolwide riot/protest eventually ensued that took half the school day to shut down. Absolutely unbelievable.

4 If the student doesn't have enough lunch money in their accounts, the school has the right to deny them food

In my county, if you have money, then you get a choice of which foods you want on the menu. If not, you would just get the combo. Why? Because here,law states that schools must give at least 3 food items to children during lunch. However, I do not know if it is the same in other places. They should really change it if the rule above applies. Parents will REALLY complain.

I have to call fair game on this one. I am pretty sure they can get a grilled cheese and a milk without money so they have the option for the alternative meal. The lunches don't pay for them selves. So you can always pack lunch or bring money.

So what used to happen at certain schools is you would get a sandwich if you didn't have money for lunch. Nothing gross, you would just get a sandwich of your choice and whatever sides you wanted. I thought this rule was a decent one.

Not at my school hehe. There is a rule at my school that if you don't have money they have to give you food. If they know your parents are unemployed you get it for free, if they are employed, you just have to pay for it sometime in the near future. Same goes with printing in the library.

5 No eating in class

I agree with this rule as the noise of chewing can be distracting for students, not to mention it creates a mess especially from kids since they generally won't care cleaning it up; that would accumulate and eventually make the class smell unpleasant even though the mess is of small quantity.

surprisingly my teacher didn't really care about me eating in class (as long if I did it seldomly), but I remember some 9th grade student making a big deal about it.

My dad had this problem in school, he had low blood sugar but back in the 50s they didn't know that, and there was no snack time and he was so poor, he barely had any food to eat. So instead of passing out he would sneak some sweet potatoes that the kindly school lady would give to him and he would eat when no one was looking.

It's a good thing these days they have snack break for the younger grades.

This rule always gets me. I don't understand why some teachers don't let students eat in class. It's not like they make a huge mess.
I know for a fact that some people at my school don't even get lunch so not letting students eat sounds pretty cruel if you ask me.

6 No hats or beanies

The staff at my school have a hate fetish for hats! There are students playing with condoms, doing drugs, and making out in the hallway and all they worry about is hats!? We always hear "remember not to wear hats! " every other day! Never "Don't do drugs" or "Don't be making out in the hallway! " or "Stop bringing condoms to school! " It's always "Remember not to wear hats! "

I like wearing hats and beanies because I like to express myself. It's part of my style.
And teachers say that wearing a hat is disrespectful? Okay, just because I'm wearing a hat, am I insulting you?
I can understand if it's a really tall hat or a giant sun hat, but just a baseball cap or a beanie? Is a simple black baseball cap that distracting?

This is one of the worst rules ever. Why can't we wear hats? It's just a simple fun thing to put on your head! And they say it is "Disrespectful". So wearing something that will make your head warm is the worst thing you could ever do?

If your school has IDs, then this is super duper dumb. You can identify us by the ids people which you still should be able to identify the students with a hat on if they been in your school for at least a month.

7 Do homework

Homework is a very very bad guy. It has a body count, and a tree count. Now yeah, should a teacher give a lot of homework (despite the fact that it's really bad for you) all because they had to do a lot of homework as a student? Well in my opinion, that answer is no, because that's their personal problem and shouldn't just use that as an excuse to make other's lives harder. My childhood was nowhere near the best but that doesn't mean I will try to ruin the childhood of others, for example, I was banned from Super Smash Bros when I was 11 3/4 despite the fact that I hadn't imitated any gameplay for 9 months of playing. Thankfully I'm allowed to play now, but that was my personal problem but I won't try to spread it around. Might I add, when I was 9 Angry Birds Go became bad with the 2.0 version and I had essentially lost my favorite game of all time (Angry Birds Go pre-2.0) forever. Having to fill that void was another personal problem of mine but not something I would have spread ...more

SirSheep so feel you there. I have probably been forced to do more hours of work both in school and at home than the number of hours I've spent doing things I actually enjoy in my entire life. Full time student is probably one of the most psychologically demanding things you go through in your lifetime. What's more, my school is considering eliminating electives altogether and having the school day simply consist of 3 2-hour long core classes (humanities, science + math) and the only respite we would have would be lunch. Does so much more harm than good.

See teachers that do this piss me off. There is no reason for you to stand there and lecture and go off on tangents for a hour then do a hour of work just to be handed a ass ton of homework. It makes no sense. Luckily most homework at my school is just unfinished work to be done at home and not work assigned for home. However there is a few teachers who think that school is a lifestyle not just 7 hours five days a week. There was one teacher who gave us a project over Christmas that pissed me off.

I am a school teacher, AND I agree with y'all. Now, this is not a rule per say usually but more of a policy. For example, teachers must have so many homework grades per six weeks. I always like for my students to complete their work in class if possible however, so I can target appropriate interventions. And when it comes to projects, I want to make certain students are actually completing their own, not the parent. Plus, I more than well aware of the plethora of things that exist beyond the school doors, and I don't like to magnify my own stress level either. Life is just too short. On the rare occasions that I assign "homework" it may be to simply study for a spelling test, or maybe just a short reflection paragraph or something of that nature. Ultimately, I believe in in-class time and maximizing it. This is better for student and teacher mindsets.

There will always be homework happy teachers, though, I am afraid... lol...

8 No talking

I have a pretty big story involving this. So I had to drop out of a class due to a strict teacher because of 2 reason. 1: Due to her thinking that students are her own property and must behave. 2. She helped with my depression. The no taking rule was a huge rule of hers and stopped me from helping a student. Like bruh.

Not even bro they be like 'why do I hear talking" or "I'll wait" and then expect us to stop talking out of respect. Maybe you can hear me because you have ears. And if you say your going to wait then just wait. teachers can't even keep their own word these days!

Some of my teachers are so strict with this rule that they give out detentions to the whole class if one idiot talks.

Some teachers man just think that we have to be bored and miserable for 8 hours, 5 days a week, for 13 years.

9 No electronics

This one time in class I was wearing my Fitbit Versa! Because it looks so much like an apple watch, that's what the teacher thought it was. Anyway, the teacher had broken her foot so she couldn't move to the whiteboard, so we all assembled around her desk. I and a few other kids were shoved to the back. The teacher was explaining something and I tapped my watch to see the time. Unfortunately, the teacher looked up at this specific moment. She seen me "playing" (her words not mine) on my watch and she confiscated it. I didn't get it back till Friday (it was Tuesday) and she told me never to wear it to school again. I did, by the way! Stuff the rules! All I wanted was the time!

We have this school system that divides class sections into the Honors, the Semi-Honors, the General Section and the Regulars. The honors are revered as goody-goodies up until now...but no one even takes a second glance at the empty box used to store the honors students' phones (which is a good thing, so during break hours we huddle in the bathroom and play stupid mobile games )

My history teacher was really strict when it came to electronics. He made us put on them in a box by the door every day before class. One time, someone forgot to put theirs in the box, and it went off in class. Well the teacher really went berserk. After he yelled at the student, he ripped up the test he took that day, and told honk he had to make it up later.

It makes sense when your in class, but why can't we have it during breaks FUN FACT: In our school it doesn't matter if school is over or not if your caught with your phone in school property they will take it away, and the only way to get it back is to pay money.

10 Must take P.E.

Taking P.E is fun for some kids, but I really hate it. We have to preform well even if we can't physically do it because we aren't good enough at it.

Yes, I understand some kids truly enjoy PE and playing soccer and basketball and being on teams. But not me. For an introvert like me and many others, it's hard enough to be on a group without it being in GYM where you're constantly being judged by your teachers and peers on your skills. Life in middle and high school nowadays is stressful enough without worrying about the newest gym unit that you're terrible at. Even, worse, you're on a team with all the athletic kids that are great at that sport, and you are terrible at it.

My PE classes involved these. A group of sport freaks, the overly feminine girls who always want to be on the same team and cry when they're not, the quiet and decent kids, the couple of kids who don't play and just set stuff up, and the few kids who couldn't care less for the sport and who don't like the class. In the games, the sports freaks throw tantrums when they los the game, the overly feminine girls gossip, the set-up kids just have fun, the quiet kids play the game, and the songs ones who don't care just tell everyone to shut the...yeah PE sucks

It is amazing as to how ignorant the world is in regards to their health. I also feel bad because apparently PE teachers are not doing their job in demonstrating why it is so important. The sad part is, all the people commenting about how pointless P.E. is...will only learn its importance when it is too late for them. I also feel sorry for the people whose P.E. class was only sports and nothing more. That is not P.E., that is recess. For those of you who believe PE is a waste of time...Good luck to you!

The Contenders
11 No chewing gum

I get that people might stick gum on your seat and it may get stuck to your pants but there's a simple solution without banning gum. No sticking gum on seats! I chew gum in class basically every day and the teachers get SUPER mad when you get busted! I've always seen this rule as completely pointless because gum not only gives you fresh breath but can also act a stress reliever and you're at school, so, your gonna need a stress reliever.

I think this actually makes sense. Chewing gum is really gross and distracting - plus people stick it everywhere. Teachers also can't really ban sticking it places without banning gum as a whole, because they can't tell who stuck something to a desk by the time it gets found out.

Well, this rule actually has a purpose. When I would enter class every morning, there would always be chewed gum stuck to my chair. And the worst part is I'd never notice and I sit down a gum would stick to my pants.

I do agree I guess. Because whenever I arrive at school in the morning their is chewed pieces of gum stuck to the chair and I sit in it without knowing and I get him in my pants!

12 No "unnatural" hair colors

So this one is hard, yes unnatural hair is distracting for a few people, but it's your choice what color hair you have, nobody else's.

I guess it's a bit distracting but if it's just highlights or something then it shouldn't matter.

We're allowed to have it, but as long as it is not all of the hair (ex: streaks, half dyes etc).

Whichever school thought that was a great idea should be shut down.

13 Not allowed to choose own seats

I don't seem to understand why is it not allowed to choose my own seat? because this is too pointless for me to follow this rule.

So I like to sit in the front of the classroom so the tall people don't obstruct my view of the board, but I generally get seated in the back because they know I'm a good student. Good students should be able to choose.

My Geography teacher seems to love seating me right in front of her... Why can't I just sit at the back where I can mind my own business? I'm a good student anyway...

Sometimes we don't even have our friends in any of our classes. And the friends we actually do have, we can't sit beside.

14 Must participate in plays

I don't care if you like drama and singing you can get a part, except in my school you miss lessons to do the practices and the music teachers can make the most simple song have a bunch of harmonies and stuff.

My teacher say it's "fun" and "educational", but I have no idea why. She says we have to understand what the character feels and how emotional they sound. Sure, but don't force me to stand up there and read the part of Goldilocks when she says " This porridge is just right *gobble gobble gobble*". Plus, sometimes people pause and refuse to say anymore even when everyone is literally screaming at that person to keep on reading because then we will miss half of break. Then they think everyone hates them and start to cry. It's all the teachers' fault. See, I'm in year 4 and I'm supposed to be learning about scripts because the year 3s and 4s have to learn how to "express" emotions. I just don't know what's up with teachers these days. They make it so embarassing and when they say "I hope you like your new roles in this play, because you can't switch!" Like, seriously? Also, they FORCE you to do a part even when you say you are being pulled right out of your comfort zone. If there's not ...more

Thankfully I don't have to at my current school, but at my old primary school we were forced to bc the school was small and they knew that no one would participate if they didn't have to.

What if you're really shy and you get up and don't say anything. And then everyone makes fun of you and it's all the teachers fault.

15 Keep your hands to yourself

And no going within 4 inches of each other. In a small school with 1,000 students and over 40 kids per class. How?

I've never understood this rule.

Why is this even a rule?

16 Not allowed to choose the song in a play

Ok, my school hasn't done a pay in a while. And I'm a boy in year 6, I'm gonna' be backstage. I believe year 6 productions have better songs.

But for assemblies:
Teachers: Super happy and positive songs!
Year 6 Students: *Cuss word songs*

I literally have never watched or participated in a school play that was remotely entertaining.

Why do we have to sing babyish songs? 6th graders should be able to sing Tokyo Narita and Wasting Time!

Teachers can play the hokey pokey and cause everyone to quit the play.

17 Shorts and leggings must be arm length

This is stupid! What if you have shorts but your arms are really long? It's just stupid all together. Just boycott. Everyone come to school wearing shorts that are not arm length.

This is unfair because my arms are really long and other people's don't go past their waist so they can wear whatever they want!

What the hell? so these short ass girls that have short arms can be walking around school with her ass hanging out and they can't say nothing about it because its still arm lenth. what are they gonna do then?

Um, what if you have arms that go past any and all shorts that you can afford or somethin'?

18 No throwing snowballs

No, I see the logic in this one. Once I was having a mini snowball fight (boys against girls) and this kid in grade 1 or 2 came up and wanted to join we said no. I finally cornered one of the boys and the same kid hit me in the nose with a ball of ice.

Just in case...JUST in case...one of the kids hides a loaded pistol, a grenade, five ninja stars and a jar of cyanide in one.

Unless you're 5, this rule is pointless, throwing snow doesn't hurt at all.

Yeah, they act like the snow is full of knives.

19 No groups of friends over 5

So if you have 6 friends (including you) one of them have to leave? And be lonely? Not many people are good with making new friends, let them have the people who they feel safe with or mostly trust

I luckily never had this issue. Maybe they think people over five is a gang even if it is the Christian church kids like me.

This is down right stupid! I always prefer an even number of friends that way we don't have to fight over who sits with who.

I don't have this rule, but even my teacher didn't understand it. Like, what's the point of this?

20 Must wear black shoes

In my school, you can wear any shoe except steel toed boots and anything that exposes your toe. And I always wear black shoes, so this wouldn't affect me. Doesn't mean I agree with it.

Not everyone likes school shoes especially black shoes since some of them are as hard as wearing rocks tied into your feet. Black is also a dark,depressing colour. Not to be rude to anyone who likes the colour black, I like it too

Ours have to be completely black with no patterns. Guess what? I'm wearing my new shoes (with leopard print) to school tomorrow. Who cares?

In my high school this rule only applies to people in chorus, choir, and jazz ensemble bands.

21 No hard balls

My school doesn't have this, but everyone brings dodgeballs to class. My school is weird.

Wait, this sounds wrong... I meant hard footballs.

Well how you supposed to kick or throw them?

Weird Rule. What does it mean exactly?

22 No crazy hair

Apparently any color that is "unnatural" and "a distraction" or something like that. I don't know about anyone else but for me weird hair is as much as a distraction as the posters on the walls.

My current school only allows us to dye our hair with natural hair colors, while the high schools don't give a flip about what color you dye your hair.

My friend dyed her hair permanently lilac and teacher was fine, I temp dye mine red and get suspended for 2 weeks?!?!

My school does not have this because I have dark blue hair and other people have dyed hair.

23 No long hair

This is so pointless. My high school doesn't have this rule at all, sorry if yours does. My hair goes down to my knees and everyone stares at me with a smile, especially the boys.

Most of our life's (girls and boys and Non-binary people) people might want to grow their hair but then you just force them to cut it? Let them do them!

This is a rule at some places? Oh no! My hair almost goes down my whole back and I would never cut it, I would just get detention! Yay!

Never been a problem but even though I don't have long hair this would piss me off.

24 No couples

Never had this problem. However anything over a quick kiss will get you detention.

In my school their are like 1 or 2 couples, and a million dramas .

A lot of people from my school would get suspended.

Good I don't like it when people kiss in front of me.

25 Only water in water bottles

That's why I just bring a metal water bottle. I could be drinking water, tea, juice, or even soda and my teachers wouldn't have a single clue.

I bring coffee to school in my water bottle and the PE teachers gets mad at me , like What.

Why would it matter. People still get sugary drinks from the canteen every day.

Once I have brought juice in bottle secretly!

8Load More
PSearch List