Top 10 Weirdest Things Schools Have Banned

Maybe your school banned red ink pens because they're too aggressive. Or someone decided spaghetti straps were a moral threat to society. Schools have a long history of banning stuff, and sure, some of it makes sense. No, you probably shouldn't vape in homeroom. But then there's the stuff that makes you question if adults are just pulling rules out of a hat.

What's wild is how many schools share these weird bans. You hear one story about a kid getting sent home for having a best friend, and then suddenly it's a whole trend. It starts to feel like a competition to see which school can come up with the most off-the-wall rule.

This list rounds up some of the strangest, most head-scratching bans schools have actually put in place. Which bans had you laughing, cringing, or wondering if you accidentally enrolled in a dystopian novel?

The Top Ten

The Dictionary

Ah, the older-than-dirt tradition of looking up bad words in the dictionary at school. From the lava age to the mid-2000s, it was perfect. Recently, teachers treat 10th graders like kindergartners, showing them clean versions of rap in music class, showing SafeTube on the projector screen, and using a "Dictionary for kids ages 6-12."

I understand that there may be inappropriate words, but dictionaries are important tools for students. They can improve their vocabulary by learning the meanings of new words. Why would they ban a fundamental vocabulary tool?
Chairs

I gotta say, this is the stupidest ban I've ever heard in my life. My high school has fully wooden floors with tile that cracks every time someone steps on it, so it would be uncomfortable to sit on the floor. Also, my school was built in 1898, so it's very old. Who is with me on my opinion?

I hate sitting on the floor. I find a comfortable position, then it gets uncomfortable, and I have to switch positions.

Where am I supposed to sit without hurting my butt then?
Best Friends

Why should you worry if you're someone else's best friend? If they respect you, shouldn't that be enough?

This is the best thing about school! What cruel and undesirable school would ban this?

That's just cruel. I guess some schools don't want friendship to be real.
Bathroom Stalls

Excellent. We are now banning our own privacy just because some principal thinks that the other students won't look at the other person taking a number one or a number two.
Seriously, if someone really banned this and you went to this school, I would only say, "Good luck."

OK, I have never been more confused than when I thought of this: why the hell would you ban bathroom stalls? The reason they're even invented is so people can have private time doing you-know-what. Boy, if I went to that school... well, I think I've said enough.
American Flag

Really? Every classroom in my school is required to at least stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and have an American flag in the classroom.

Liberal: You see, the flag that represents the land of the free is a symbol of white supremacy. Because that makes sense.

What's next? Are they going to ban the pledge or the national anthem? How stupid can schools get with banning things?
Books

Isn't that how kids learn in the first place? If you ban books, then how are students going to learn?

I like to read and cannot live without books. It will be a shame if my school bans them.

I live for books! In fact, I couldn't survive if our school banned books!
Regular Clothes

I hate my school uniform. It feels like you are going to the school of worst dress sense. Why can't we just wear simple jeans and a top? Our uniform for girls is a brown check shirt, a brown divider skirt, and two braids down the sides with ribbons. Can you believe it? Ribbons!
I don't understand the point of a dress code in school. We are there to study, so teach us and don't interfere with anything else! I can understand banning crop tops, mini skirts, and all that revealing stuff, but normal clothes? Is your brain dead or something?

I understand when it comes to crop tops and blouses, but regular clothes? What?! Having to wear school uniforms is stupid. Wearing itchy and uncomfortable tops and shirts, and putting braids in your hair with ribbons? Ribbons!
And I hate braids in my hair. How stupid to ban regular clothes. Back in my childhood, I was glad my school didn't ban the clothes we wear now. Kids, go to Pettigrew! It's the nicest school!
Anything Involving Birthdays

This goes for all other holiday-related things, but some schools have people who are Jehovah's Witnesses, which is a religion where they don't celebrate holidays. They do other stuff too, but that's not very important for this matter. I go to school with a girl who's a Jehovah's Witness, and she's really nice.

But I want birthday wishes from my classmates because I consider my birthday the most special day of my life!

WHAT?! People's birthdays are special things that should be celebrated!
Tag

After my school banned this, we started playing Grounders. After my school banned Grounders (their eyes are closed and they're on playground equipment? What if they fall?), we started playing Red Rover. Then they banned that too, so now we have nothing to do.

It's actually banned. Why would they ban tag? I played tag when I was a kid, and nothing bad has ever happened to me or any other kid who played it.

Schools: Banning a timeless game that children have been playing for decades all because a few people roughhouse too much.
Great logic.
Red Ink

I read recently that the color red can negatively affect test results. If only I knew this before I got red carpets for my room and a red blanket for my bed.

Our country is drowning in red ink. Political reference.

Um, no. They use red pens to correct. They need red pens to see if their answers are wrong or right.

The Newcomers

?
Fidget Spinners

They were made to help disabled kids pay attention in class, but a bunch of people who didn't need them played with them.
If you didn't need a fidget spinner in class but you used one anyway, that was cruel. But thank you, because the noise of them hurts my ears.

Once, I took a fidget spinner to school, and all the kids were spinning it and touching it! It was MINE!
I never gave them permission, so it was kinda my fault for making the teacher ban it.

Banning these can be helpful, but it also takes away a useful tool from kids who actually benefit from using one, like myself.
?
Google

Google LLC is an American multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products, including online advertising technologies, search, cloud computing, software, and hardware. It was founded in September 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were Ph.D. students... read more

You want a school that has banned Google? Go to my old high school, Pepin Academies.
One kid was looking up bad stuff on Google, and they blocked it throughout the entire school.

HA! You might have banned regular Google, but not Google Chrome.

The Contenders

Father's Day Cards

Wait, isn't Father's Day in June? Which is pretty much during summer vacation unless you have summer school. And who would get offended because kids have two moms when there is also a Mother's Day? Lol.

They claimed it is offensive to kids with two moms despite the fact that some people have two dads.
Christmas

The school that banned Christmas probably had Ebenezer Scrooge or The Grinch as the principal. Or the principal might be even worse than the guys I mentioned!

Gee, the principal or the school board must have been a real Scrooge or Grinch to ban something like this.

Christmas is the best time of the year! Why would anyone ban Christmas? That's weird!
Lunch

Schools: Yay, starving children at schools was SUCH a good idea! Plus, money is better than people! Maybe we could make the children do labor and make our staff only get half the pay for twice the work!

There's evidence that nutrition helps your brain function. I don't know why any school would ban lunch. That's just crazy.

Are there teachers who actually do this? If there are, they're monsters! Students don't have to starve.
Band Shirts

I can understand if it's for some of the more obscure metal bands like the ones I listen to, like Cannibal Corpse, because of the graphic nature of their merchandise. But banning band shirts outright is just too much.

Even if the songs have bad words, there's a kid in English who wears a Deadpool shirt all the time, which is rated R, and he doesn't get in trouble! Yes, I know some band shirts have gore and stuff on them, but not every band!

I don't wear band shirts, but this would still annoy me, especially seeing "pretty girls" get away with wearing tops that expose half their bodies.
Recess

No break from learning means that we have to suffer 7 hours, 5 days a week, sitting in crappily contoured plastic chairs, holding uncomfortable hexagons with lead on one end and a worn-out eraser on the other.

This is just an elementary school thing.
Darwin T-Shirt

On the other hand, some schools ban shirts with Bible quotes on them and anything that has to do with religion. If only we could get along. It's a free country.

In private religious schools, probably...

It's not Darwin Watterson. It's actually Charles Darwin.
Dancing

The teachers are just afraid that the students will out-dance them! Chickens!

Are the teachers afraid that kids will fall and hurt themselves or something?

Stupid, but they probably just don't want a bunch of kids twerking. That's all they do anymore.
Art

Art? I love art! How could they ban that?
Flamin' Hot Cheetos

Cheetos often get a bad rap, but Flaming Hot Cheetos are apparently the biggest culprit. With their dangerous heat and alarming red color, no school cafeteria is safe. (Source: The Huffington Post)

Alarming red color? What do they think it is, blood?

That's awful. They are so delicious.
The Words "Mom" and "Dad"

So you're not even allowed to tell your friend if your mom says you can't go out after school?

Looks like I'd be in detention every single day.
Hats

My school won't even let you wear ANY type of clothing on your head! Hoods, hats, beanies, tinfoil, everything! All because they think it's disrespectful. Apparently, my school is full of hillbillies who are still living in 1910.

It's so stupid. I see movies and TV shows from the '80s and '90s, and they're wearing hats, but apparently at my school, they don't like hats or something like that. One reason I think they banned them is because it's a sign of a gang or something like that.

My Accounting teacher gets really mad when someone wears a hat inside their class. She's even confiscated some! What's wrong with having extra clothing?
Air Jordans

What on earth did Air Jordans do to the principal?

They need to stop banning everything.
Pokémon Cards

Okay, the ban started when I was in 1st grade. All the 1st graders were bringing Pokemon Cards, doing matches, and trading with the cards. I was so excited about this. I was trying to get the Pikachu Pokemon card whenever I got a McDonald's Happy Meal, but no luck.
One day, kids were whining and crying about getting scammed for their best Pokemon or someone cheating in a Pokemon match. All the teachers in my school discussed it with the principal. My teacher agreed to ban Pokemon cards! All the other teachers, including the principal, agreed too. Now I am sad and miserable without cards.

They were banned at my school because someone dropped one and someone else picked it up. Then the teacher gave us a lecture about stealing other people's things and talked to the principal.
After that, we snuck them in and we never got caught.
The Words "What The"

What the what, what the hay, what the heck, and what itself. STUPID!
In fact, this list has items so stupid I forgot I was on a list about the stupidest reasons to ban things.

Two very common words in the English language, and some adult in some school thinks they are words of heathens and blasphemers. Seriously?

Student: Tell me what the kid said last night!
Teacher: You said "What the." To the office with you!
Me: At least check for context!
Joking About Drugs

When I was in the 4th grade, I made a joke saying I smoke weed every day. Someone took that seriously and told the teacher, so there was a drug inspection. Now that I'm almost a 7th grader, I know how serious this is.

When they were teaching us about why drugs aren't cool, kids made jokes about smoking weed.
Not good.

The administration must be on drugs or something.