Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
Has your office or university made you do something that just seemed completely nonsensical? Perhaps its dress code unintentionally turned you into a movie character? Or maybe there was a time management technique that decreased your productivity rather than improving it? If so, you're not alone.
Started by Reddit user Swiaa, there's an online thread that asked people, "What is the dumbest rule your workplace or school has actually enforced?" and it has gone viral, amassing over 13,000 comments. The discussion is a reminder that regulations, while often necessary for maintaining structure and order, can also lead to unintended consequences if not carefully considered.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My junior year in high school a teacher collapsed in class and went into full cardiac arrest. The student who called 911 was suspended because school policy stated an admin had to make that decision.
They were full of s**t. It took them half an hour to approve a 911 call for a student in my class the same year who cracked his skull open during a seizure.
RELATED:
#2
Back in High School we couldn't do homework during detention. *Great thinking*... preventing "at-risk" kids from doing schoolwork during the only time they'd realistically do it.
BeepBeepBoopBoop 1 year ago
that's... Tf? I mean what are you supposed to do in detention? You can't normally have your phone, and if you can't do homework.. Are you supposed to just sit there and think about what you did?
#3
One girl got called into the principal's office because her skirt was too short, even though she was wearing leggings underneath. The principal made her take the skirt off and just go in the leggings, which was even more revealing since she was wearing a thong.
Skylar (they/them) 1 year ago
Ew. Creepy of the principal, once he saw what she was wearing underneath he should've said ok to the skirt. Or just let her wear it in the first place.
#4
I had over 20 detentions in school for running in the sandbox when I was in 1st grade... 1st grade. At the end of the year they wouldn't let me go on the school field trip. So my parents took me at the same time, my principle suspended me for the last day of school for being there even with my parents. That's OK because my grandma took me shopping.
Littlemiss 1 year ago
Beggers belief doesn't it. Oh no a child got excited going to play, let's punish them. Stupidity beyond belief.
#5
My school had a no running but no slow walking rule.
Running? Detention
Walking? Detention
WHAT THE F**K AM I SUPPOSED TO DO, LEVITATE?
#6
20 minutes of bathroom breaks per week. That's 4 minutes a day! I actually got written up for exceeding 20 minutes per week. In the meeting I said to my younger supervisor "You know I'm an old man don't you? For me, going to the bathroom takes time." She said she didn't want to talk about it.
StrangeOne 1 year ago
I was once interrogated about my bathroom times cos I was having gut issues. They even asked why I took so long in the bathroom. Of course I was being questioned in field with many people in earshot. So I thought what the hell. Lets embarrass this loon and I started giving more details about the consistency and amount of bowel movements I had to do. It wasn't long before he interrupted me saying he got it and sent me back to my desk. Idiot.
#7
At my driving school, the instructor said that if you were being chased, on the highway, by someone who was shooting at you, you shouldn't go over the speed limit.
One girl said: ''so you should just let yourself get shot?'' and the instructor said yes.
BeepBeepBoopBoop 1 year ago
oh yea obviously. Being shot is better than going over the speed limit! (this gets the biggest /s I can give)
#8
When I was in year 10 there was a rule that meant we had to wear our blazers at all time unless you were in a classroom and had the teacher's permission.
There was a few really hot weeks that year, and we were all forced to wear our black blazers (and have our shirts tucked in with top button done up and tie pushed to the top) outside in 30ish°C heat with little wind.
It took us weeks of complaining and a few people fainting from the heat for our principal to realised she was being unreasonable and putting our health at risk.
Glad she got fired (for something else though).
Zia Barrett 1 year ago
Pretty much the same rule, but if it was too hot the school would sometimes note on the main board that you didn't have to wear it. We didn't actually get detention or suspended or anything for not wearing them though, just sternly told to put it back on.
#9
You couldn't fulfill your internship requirement with a job you already have, even if it's directly in the field of study. This was graduate school. So a bunch of adults in the middle of their careers weren't able to count their highly relevant jobs towards the internship and had to go waste a bunch of time doing typical low level intern bullc**p at other companies.
Doctor Strange 1 year ago
Because the school had a deal with companies to provide slave lab... I mean 'unpaid interns'
#10
My elementary school instituted a rule that you couldn't call your parents or go home from school for being "sick" unless you barfed or had a fever. I went to the nurses office for a stomach ache (a frequent activity for me in those years) and when the nurse said I couldn't call home I puked on her. Got to go home and they eventually changed the rule.
Also really effed up- they used to put peanut butter in the pizza to up its nutritional values. They never told anyone. It came to the obvious conclusion when a kid with a nut allergy had pizza for lunch.
#11
There was once a student who decided to charge his phone. One of the teachers had a s**tfit and told him if he did not unplug it, he'd be suspended and charged for the electricity. He thought it was a joke of sorts and laughed it off. So he got suspended and was made to go in front of a committee. He laughed after handing them a dime and walking out, knowing it had cost the school district thousands of times that much to file the paperwork, and deal with it.
YetAnotherSarah 1 year ago
There are a lot of reasons to have a no-charging-cell-phone rule in place with kids/teens. Cost of electricity is not one of them. Tripping hazard with cords across walkways, faulty charger, wrong type of charger, security of connecting an outside device to a school device (using a computer port). But not electricity expenditure.
#12
The "daylight rule". There had to be daylight between boys and girls at all times, in a solid line. Got told off a few times for "sitting too close", "walking alone together" and hugging boys, because apparently, if you hug boys hello or goodbye, sex will happen.
#13
When I was in 7th grade, they created a no hugging rule. After the principle gave this speech, about 150 kids stood up, and created a mass group hug outside the office. The administrators were pulling people out at random and sending them to detention.
Max Fox 1 year ago
AT my kid's middle school they banned hugging inside the school, because that year mass hugs were a thing (just one of those crazes that goes through schools), and they were blocking the halls. However, hugging outside was permitted, so they kept one doing the mass hugs until they had some new craze. The rule of "no hugging inside the school" may still be there, for all I know.
#14
At my high school, you couldn't loiter. That means you could not be on campus more than 30 minutes prior to the beginning of classes or 30 minutes after the end of classes. You also could not go off campus once you'd gotten there, or you would be automatically expelled (happened to someone I knew).
I rode the bus to school, and one day it came early and hauled a*s, getting me to campus 45 minutes before classes started. As I was not allowed to leave campus, I went inside and started doing homework in the hallway (library and cafeteria weren't open yet). The vice principal found me in the hallway and took me to his office. He then called my mom and had me suspended for a day for loitering on campus. My grandparents had to come pick me up and the VP escorted me off campus 5 minutes before classes started.
BeepBeepBoopBoop 1 year ago
I mean that's not your fault? I understand the no loitering but that should be mainly for after school
#15
Right after I graduated, a new principal took over my high school and decided girls couldn't carry purses anymore. I told my little sister she should keep a tampon behind each ear like a pencil. I told her If all the girls do that they'll drop that rule.
It turned out not to be necessary. Enough parents complained and the rule was abolished in its first week.
I think the rule had something to do with hidden weapons. Our school was in a rural town and had absolutely no history of gangs or violence.
BeepBeepBoopBoop 1 year ago (edited)
heh no violence would be nice. That's why we weren't allowed to have lockers ever
#16
My workplace enforces a dress code. I work in a f*****g call center. I'm pretty sure a t-shirt won't hinder me from doing tech support.
2WheelTravlr 1 year ago
Studies done over the years show that people who are dressed casually tend to be more casual in all their interactions, even over the phone. I think it's insane to have a dress code for a minimum wage entry level position, but if the job was higher level, like an investment advisor or something similar, then the rule makes some sense.
#17
No cell phone shaped objects in your pockets at work. At first I thought it was a typo, then they started to write people up for wallets, packs of gum, and other rectangular shapes in our pockets.
#18
From a previous place of employment: You cannot talk to your coworker over the wall of your cube (wall was waist high), you must walk over and sit down next to them to talk. Also, no personalized screen savers and no black hosiery for women because it's too provocative.
#19
If a cell phone goes off, every one in the class, must stand up immediately with their hands on their heads until an officer arrives to search them. Failure to comply will result in incarceration.
#20
When I was in 5th grade the school installed a traffic light in the cafeteria, and when the light was red, all the kids had to be completely silent. I have no idea why we had to be silent during most of our lunch but we did. It was stupid as f**k.
#21
My school made water bottles against the rules. You had to have a doctor's note to be able to have a water bottle in class or in the hallway. This is the first instance where I started to doubt the country that I live in.
fair_weather_rose 1 year ago
We kinda have the opposite problem. It isn't banned, but all the water fountains are wrapped in tape an you can't use them. They aren't out of order or anything, just off limits. There's the kind of water fountain thingy you can use to fill a water bottle, but that doesn't help if you don't have a water bottle.
#22
I went to a Charter school where we had "Moral Focus" assemblies every morning. It was stupid and pointless. The school also banned Halloween and changed it to a "Harvest Festival", where each class was assigned a vegetable to dress up as. My class dressed as eggplant. It was awful.
#23
No high fives allowed in middle school. Giving a high five meant a detention.
#24
I went to a Catholic high school that didn't have a required uniform, but rather a strict dress code. Dress pants of any color provided they didn't have patch pockets were acceptable, for example, as were most solid-colored shirts as long as they had collars and sleeves. However, the way the dress code was worded in the student handbook left a little loophole: "If the student wears shoes, they must be one of the following styles..."
*If.*
Someone noticed this my sophomore year and simply stopped wearing shoes to class. Soon the trend spread. The teachers couldn't justifiably give detention because the students weren't technically breaking the dress code. An amendment to the dress code was mailed to the home of every student, requiring them to sign and turn it in or else face suspension. It wasn't a stupid rule (I personally never followed the trend, going shoe-less in the bathroom would have grossed me out) but it was stupid that it escalated so much.
TL;DR - students had to promise to wear shoes.
#25
No talking between coworkers ***EVER***. Imagine that in a retail that hires 95% teens. Good luck with that. Unless they're looking at us, we always talk a bit. Could you imagine being with people 5+ hours a day for months and never speak?
Elwood Schwartz (it/that) 1 year ago
I've been in retail 25 years, as a teen and as a supervisor. Nobody cares if you talk, as long as it isn't inappropriate and you are actually working. My experience tells me teens have trouble with both.
#26
There is an area outside of the cafeteria with tables for students to eat at. However.. Nobody is allowed to go outside to eat. It's very strange.
Jared Robinson 1 year ago
I'm sure at one point they were used, and then kids started being kids and took advantage of it.
#27
I got a detention once for exiting through the wrong doors. The doors were not an emergency exit or anything. Just doors that were closer to my bus.
RafCo (he/him/ele) 1 year ago
I had a friend in college her a parking ticket for parking in a "future handicap space". He was able to fight the ticket and get it erased, but the audacity of that cop. There were no signs saying "this will be disabled parking one day"
#28
Only allowed to use the restrooms after class -at the end of the day-
BeepBeepBoopBoop 1 year ago
Not allowing students to go to the bathroom should be illegal istg
#29
No Gameboys because some kid cried because someone beat him in a Pokemon battle; so they banned Gameboys, and they banned Pokemon. Pokemon was banned for being "too violent".
1998 was awesome.
Brenda 1 year ago (edited)
My kids had all collectable cards, spinners, any type of dice, rubber band jewelry, press on nails (not acrylic), all banned. Any games, even teacher games, had to get approval. Any gaming devices and all cell phones (90s). Then son took my phone and they insisted I wait until the last day of school or pay a $50 fee to get it back. Raised holy he!! about that (got it back). 2 years later all the kids had phones
#30
No shorts.
In the summer.
In Florida.
RafCo (he/him/ele) 1 year ago
My school in the late 1980s had a no shorts for girls rule. Girls could wear a skirt, but it has to fall below the knee. Boys weren't allowed to wear hats on campus, but girls could. We had a lot of stupid rules
#31
when i was in 8th grade the principle decided that all bad things happen when students were in a group larger than 5. If more than 5 students were standing around a teacher would come and break it up.
BeepBeepBoopBoop 1 year ago
no big friend groups ig. you're not allowed to have more then four friends at once!
#32
We're not allowed to have baked goods on campus.
#33
Opening a door for anyone is punishable
#34
If we didn't wear a coat to school from November to February, we got not one, but two detentions. Even if it was warm enough not to wear one.
ChocolateCake 1 year ago (edited)
where i live, it was literally 81 degrees (Fahrenheit) out. it isn't normally that hot, usually 32 degrees(Fahrenheit). I bike to school and I would DIE
#35
A year after I got out of my middle school, they banned plain white tee shirts.
What do you think ?
Isa Reyes 1 year ago
I already typed dozens of rules my hs had....but I will type the worst one....Random 'wrist checks' that are done in front of EVERYBODY on students that have been suspected of being depressed or anxious...even a normal kid who is just sad gets checked for self harm....I was checked in front of the ENTIRE Cafeteria after they grabbed me, dropped my tray, and ripped the sleeves of my clothes.....they did this to a friend who ended up killing herself as a result. I miss you Zoe
Isa Reyes 1 year ago
Just gonna list some of the ones from my high school years alone: no phones period, no backpacks unless they were clear, must always wear your id on your shirt and it must be facing forward, no hair past the ears on guys, no lobe piercing on guys, no tank tops, no tight shirts, no leggings, no ripped jeans, no carrying books outside of bag, no water bottles that were not clear (they would be sniffed by staff to make sure they are not vodka), walked through a metal detector daily, every 2 weeks lockers and classrooms (including backpacks) got searched by drug dogs, bag searches before entering school, no parking without paying for a parking pass, no parked on the west side of school where most classes are, no visiting counselor without a weeks notice, no eyeliner, no bold lipstick, no hugging, no hand-holding, no sharing lunches or lunch money, staff sat outside the bathroom and timed how long you were in there (only 1 student allowed in at a time), no clear phone cases, no pop sockets, no posting about the school on social media unless promoting, no walking on left side of hallway, do not look at the cops (who monitored our every move), no skirts, no shorts on girls, guys must wear belts, no naturally curly hair like on many of our black classmates as it was distracting, no reading ahead, no working on he during lunch or before school in the commons, etc.....I am going to make another comment for this last thing because it led to a suicide and still was continued
Stardust she/her 1 year ago
I got my comic book (which I made) confiscated. I was showing them to my classmate during snack break and my teacher took it away from me and I didn’t get it back for 1 week as they kept misplacing it. They later on twisted the story and told my parents that I was distracting everyone in the middle of the class with my comics which was not the case. The Vice principle told me that if I needed to show my comics, I would have to give it to the teacher who will show the other students. I never followed that rule as I didn’t feel it necessary
Salsa Ambiguity 1 year ago
Off topic but it's really cool that you made your own comics!
Load More Replies... Isa Reyes 1 year ago
I already typed dozens of rules my hs had....but I will type the worst one....Random 'wrist checks' that are done in front of EVERYBODY on students that have been suspected of being depressed or anxious...even a normal kid who is just sad gets checked for self harm....I was checked in front of the ENTIRE Cafeteria after they grabbed me, dropped my tray, and ripped the sleeves of my clothes.....they did this to a friend who ended up killing herself as a result. I miss you Zoe
Isa Reyes 1 year ago
Just gonna list some of the ones from my high school years alone: no phones period, no backpacks unless they were clear, must always wear your id on your shirt and it must be facing forward, no hair past the ears on guys, no lobe piercing on guys, no tank tops, no tight shirts, no leggings, no ripped jeans, no carrying books outside of bag, no water bottles that were not clear (they would be sniffed by staff to make sure they are not vodka), walked through a metal detector daily, every 2 weeks lockers and classrooms (including backpacks) got searched by drug dogs, bag searches before entering school, no parking without paying for a parking pass, no parked on the west side of school where most classes are, no visiting counselor without a weeks notice, no eyeliner, no bold lipstick, no hugging, no hand-holding, no sharing lunches or lunch money, staff sat outside the bathroom and timed how long you were in there (only 1 student allowed in at a time), no clear phone cases, no pop sockets, no posting about the school on social media unless promoting, no walking on left side of hallway, do not look at the cops (who monitored our every move), no skirts, no shorts on girls, guys must wear belts, no naturally curly hair like on many of our black classmates as it was distracting, no reading ahead, no working on he during lunch or before school in the commons, etc.....I am going to make another comment for this last thing because it led to a suicide and still was continued
Stardust she/her 1 year ago
I got my comic book (which I made) confiscated. I was showing them to my classmate during snack break and my teacher took it away from me and I didn’t get it back for 1 week as they kept misplacing it. They later on twisted the story and told my parents that I was distracting everyone in the middle of the class with my comics which was not the case. The Vice principle told me that if I needed to show my comics, I would have to give it to the teacher who will show the other students. I never followed that rule as I didn’t feel it necessary
Salsa Ambiguity 1 year ago
Off topic but it's really cool that you made your own comics!
Load More Replies... Related on Bored Panda
