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Now, school ought to be a place of learning where eager minds would try to soak in every bit of knowledge and experience they can before they hit the real world.

Alas, schools are also a place where certain decisions beg more questions than they could possibly answer and, in some cases, it has reached unethical levels.

People of Reddit have been listing unethical practices that schools do, and nobody is really batting an eye about it. The discussion generated nearly 11,000 comments with over 24,000 upvotes.

Bored Panda has collected the most upvoted responses to this question and compiled a list which you can find below. Vote and comment on the answers that you think are the biggest problems, and why not also share some of your observations in the comment section below!

More Info: Reddit

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Harassing teenage girls for "dressing inappropriately" when a millimeter of their bra strap is showing (or some other bulls**t like that). Telling them it distracts the boys and invites unwanted attention.

When they actually get harassed (or worse) the school does nothing.

_theatre_junkie , Brian Stacey Report

Final score:
299points
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Mary Rose Kent
Mary Rose Kent
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It also perpetuates the notion that girls are responsible for controlling boys’ behavior!

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#2

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Lowering a school's funding if the SAT scores are low. If the scores are low, there should be more funding to help kids learn!

jk1445 , ella Report

Final score:
273points
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RandomBeing
RandomBeing
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh u are doing poorly? No resources for u hehehe get gud

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#3

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Bullied and harassed students having the same repercussions as their bully for defending themselves.

novato1995 , Eddie~S Report

Final score:
254points
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DennyS (denzoren)
DennyS (denzoren)
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've never understood this...even as adults...in our country if someone is trying to kill you and you defend yourself, you can be charged with assault...like what?!?!

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#4

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online How sports programs have way more money than any other programs at the school… because school is a business not education.

smileymn , Lucy Gray Report

Final score:
243points
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Orange Is Aging
Orange Is Aging
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sports are focused on FAR too much at the schools by me. Whenever I drive past there are ALWAYS notices about games and whatever. School should be focused on education, not sports

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#5

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Awarding “perfect attendance.” Encouraging kids to go to school while sick is pretty unethical if you ask me.

SentientOobleck , jdog90 Report

Final score:
238points
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#6

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online firing lunchroom staff for serving food to poor students whose families can't afford to pay

Robert-L-Santangelo , Joe Wolf Report

Final score:
229points
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DennyS (denzoren)
DennyS (denzoren)
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We've got school lunches in primary and secondary schools here...which are free and for low income families. A few years back they also instituted breakfast.

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#7

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Collective punishment; one or two pupils misbehave and the entire class gets punished for it.

Mortlach78 , Laurie SullivanFollow Report

Final score:
207points
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#8

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Too much homework. Let kids be kids. A little homework is good but god don't drown the kids in it.

iknowthisischeesy , Catherine Report

Final score:
206points
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DennyS (denzoren)
DennyS (denzoren)
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hear that...we used to have hours of homework. Sometimes I just want to relax and sleep.

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#9

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Requiring you to purchase textbooks brand new from the college's bookstore because that's the only way to get the access code to complete the required assignments on the publishers website.

austininlaw , Theresa Quagraine Report

Final score:
204points
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XenoMurph
XenoMurph
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember the problem of buying school books when we were poor. But actually some college books are only purchased by a few dozen people on that particular course, so would not be produced without those purchases. So SOME people purchasing the book is important. However you acquire the book should not be anything to do with the college though.

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#10

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online I was a decently misbehaved third grader. Told my teacher I had a stomach ache and I needed to go to the nurse. I asked a number of times. She thought I was just trying to get out of individual reading time. My appendix burst on the bus ride home.

I was never one to ask to go to the nurse. Just a hyperactive kid my teacher apparently had enough of. Denying medical attention to an 8 year old seems unethical. This is not a "boy who cried wolf" story for all those saying "I told ya so".

jurassicgrif , Sherrel Stewart Report

Final score:
199points
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Peppy Piplup
Peppy Piplup
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember one time in digital technology class I developed a splitting pain below my stomach. I think it was trapped gas in my bowels or something. Anyway, I asked my teacher if I could go to the nurse, but she told me no because class was "almost over" and that I have to wait until it was finished before I could go. Except that class was over in an hour, so I had to stay seated in my chair, in agony, for an hour. Did I mention that digital technology was my last class that day? So school was over by the time class ended and I couldn't stay behind because then I'd be late and I can't be late because my mum had to pick up my brothers from their schools as well so I never got to the nurse. And then there was that other time where I nearly fainted in the mandatory religion class and I did have to go to the nurse and while my friend was leaving my schoolbag in the nurse's office, she told me that the substitute teacher was pissed at me for missing class.

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#11

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Bullied students are told to leave because it's easier to kick out a quiet victim than a loud bully

TheNameless00 , Bart Everson Report

Final score:
190points
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DennyS (denzoren)
DennyS (denzoren)
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or when they call the bully and say "bullied kid said you did X" and when they deny it they just leave it there...like thanks for now increasing the bullying that already existed.

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#12

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online This is probably very specific to my home country but period checks

I'm from Malaysia and yes sadly this is a thing and I've witnessed it firsthand. Mostly to make sure girls aren't lying about their periods just to get out of prayer activities.

roticanaidraws , menstruationstasse.net Report

Final score:
185points
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#13

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online zero tolerance policies.

Oh that kid hit you for no reason? both suspended zero tolerance!

lemons_of_doubt , Jodi Mullen Report

Final score:
172points
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#14

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Less severe but limiting kids access to water, I.e. you can’t have your drink bottle at the table. Which sucks when you live in Australia and at summer the temperature gets up to 36c and school is during all the hottest hours of the day.

TeamLarge7729 , Jason Woodhead Report

Final score:
165points
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Ozacoter
Ozacoter
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Same in my horrific catholic school. They would close the water fountain in the recess (10am and 13-15pm) so kids wouldnt play with the water. Even in the months of may and june. My region of spain (as most) gets easily to 30-40C in those months

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#15

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Tormenting socially awkward /introverted students

weirdisgreat , Glen BledsoeFollow Report

Final score:
156points
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Ozacoter
Ozacoter
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hinestly believe that some teachers enjoy making their kids suffer. I speak very fast and because of that i stutter if I read out loud. One of my teachers loved making me read all the time and kept smiling while some of the students laughted. Once i got so tired that i shut up and sat in the middle of a sentence and refused to ever read in her classes. Bitch

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#16

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Passing students that aren't ready for the next grade because they need to pad their passing rates to keep funding. It's setting the kids up for failure down the road.

VoijaRisa , Michael Pollak Report

Final score:
145points
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#17

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Treating special needs kids subhumanly because they can’t speak up for themselves…then belittling/reprimanding the staff who do advocate for them.

Terriaki83 , Theodore Daniels Report

Final score:
145points
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#18

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Giving preference to kids that parents donate money and fratranise with teachers/ headmasters.

hollaback5055 , 401(K) 2012 Report

Final score:
144points
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#19

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Our assembly room/gymnaisum had the fire escape doors chained shut, and the police department was aware of it.

snarlyelder , Steve Johnson Report

Final score:
141points
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Ozacoter
Ozacoter
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Our fire alarms were disabled. Once two kids tried to pull a prank activating them and we all realised that they were all off

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#20

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online C9Juice says:
7 am classes

S_thyrsoidea replied:
7am classes in complete disregard for what the science says about adolescent development and sleep schedule, and the effect of early classes on academic success.

C9Juice , Jacob Roeland Report

Final score:
136points
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Clare Is great
Clare Is great
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My school: you should sleep at least 9 hours a night Also my school: you must wake up at 6 in the morning

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#21

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Making hair part of the uniform and dictating what hair styles and colours students are allowed to have. Also letting girls wear short skirts in summer but not letting boys wear shorts. I've seen quite a few schools in the news where the boys have had to protest and wear skirts in the summer because they weren't allowed shorts.

geoffs3310 , Michael McCauslin Report

Final score:
136points
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Cactus McCoy
Cactus McCoy
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Also letting girls wear short skirts in summer" while at the same time cry out loud in case of shoulder free top or barely visible bra strap, I presume.

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#22

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Present opinions as facts.

Rowgarth , Allison Meier Report

Final score:
130points
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Harri Ellis
Harri Ellis
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had a Social Studies asshole teacher/coach who told the class that if a girl is getting raped, she should relax and enjoy it. I got up and walked out. I spoke up, and nothing was done, since he was a coach. I was 14. The good old 70's.

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#23

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Not care about students's mental health

Eka_silicon12 , ttarasiuk Report

Final score:
123points
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Hedgielover98
Hedgielover98
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was bullied and depressed to the point of dropping out for a month. I lived in black because I was fat and it seemed to help distract the bullies. So what happens? My English teacher tells the class she thinks I'm a Satanist.

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#24

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Convincing kids that a 4-year institution after graduation is the best choice for everyone.

Sunshine_Unit , Neil Turner Report

Final score:
116points
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Mary Rose Kent
Mary Rose Kent
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think Boomers were the last generation to not be required by society to have a college degree in order to get a job!

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#25

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Keeping bad teachers in their positions. Not the same as a good teacher with poorly performing students with bad home life etc.

lets86 , Sebastiaan ter Burg Report

Final score:
106points
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RandomBeing
RandomBeing
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People talk about students being able to grade and review teachers as a joke but it would actually be a great idea (especially if it can be done anonymously)

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#26

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Humiliating and/or calling out students in front of the whole class

also saying things like "you'll never pass my class/get into Harvard/get into college" to the entire class for some reason always with a stupid, arrogant smirk on their face... The first two are true stories, the first from my Honors Algebra II teacher to a class of 15/16-year-olds and the second from my HONORS SCHOOL to a class of 14/15-year-olds which was supposed to prepare me for that exact thing!! What makes the second even worse is that the person who said it was... wait for it... THE SCHOOL COUNSELOR!!!

snappingmyfeet , jdog90 Report

Final score:
102points
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Sosena Hailu
Sosena Hailu
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

School counselors are actually just stuck up baboons who expect bullies to obey you by telling them to stop. WTF?

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#27

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Only having one bathroom for open in a high school. There are 1000’s of kids.

Nanasays , M R Report

Final score:
96points
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#28

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online The pledge of allegiance, confiscating kid's phones, withholding graduation ceremonies because they've labelled kids troublemakers, zero tolerance policies, ignoring and covering up bullying

Stunt-Driver , miniyo73 Report

Final score:
96points
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Cecily Holland
Cecily Holland
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ripping off a Kids insulin pump and yanking out the IV line because you are too stupid to see it isn’t a phone

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#29

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Professors selling their own books for their class

Xetanees , Siyavula Education Report

Final score:
89points
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DennyS (denzoren)
DennyS (denzoren)
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For us it's textbooks that have "amendments" every year. Like, why should I trust you if you keep making mistakes. lol

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#30

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Over the top dresscode making girls feel like s**t because of it

ntabz23 , . Ray in Manila Report

Final score:
88points
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RandomBeing
RandomBeing
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dress codes that are really different for boys and girls make no sense

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#31

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Making kids sell magazines or whatever. Should be 100% illegal and I dunno what kind of parents stand for that bulls**t.

ace_urban , WordRidden Report

Final score:
86points
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#32

Diagnosing kids who aren't interested in the curriculum with ADHD. Still don't understand how I get diagnosed with ADHD in elementary school just for it to magically disappear halfway through middle school, for it then to reappear freshman year of high school just to disappear again sophomore year.

E_SUN1 Report

Final score:
86points
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RandomBeing
RandomBeing
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And then kids who actually have ADHD get told they're faking it. Misdiagnosis doesn't benefit anyone.

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#33

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Not letting kids take part in a test because their parents havent paid.

cyborgdog , Michelle TeGrootenhuis Report

Final score:
80points
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#34

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Put make up exams during lunch. I’m running on no food for the past 21 hours because I had to skip lunch to do a makeup exam. Thank god the school day is almost over

Side note, I exercise a lot so I generally eat a lot so this s**t is really annoying

Frost_Phoenix , Ishikawa Ken Report

Final score:
78points
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#35

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Selling 2x the number of parking passes than spots actually exist for, then imposing steep parking fines.

TigerTownTerror , SoulRider.222 Report

Final score:
75points
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Chucky Cheezburger
Chucky Cheezburger
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, that sucks.I guess they have to discourage students driving on campus somehow.

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#36

Serve children lunches with pizza, breadsticks, and milk every day.

haunted_champagne Report

Final score:
37points
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#37

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online Worst? Probably the sky-high cost of attendance. The most visible evidence of this is the endless list of administrators, administrative assistants, specialists, administrative associates, the list goes on. Unless you are dirt poor and qualify for Pell Grants (US) the cost of a name-brand school is hard to swallow. Add inflation and it's even worse.

wecaweca , alamosbasement Report

Final score:
34points
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#38

35 Unethical Practices That Are Surprisingly A Thing In Some Schools, As Pointed Out By Folks Online I’m the case of there being a fire, I think it’s stupid we have to go in alphabetical order. So Adam is happy and healthy, but Zach just turned into ash. In my opinion, they should all just get in a line no matter what

sleepyboi69420 , Eden, Janine and JimFollow Report

Final score:
30points
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DennyS (denzoren)
DennyS (denzoren)
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I mean...if I see a fire my first instinct wouldn't be to wait and think...damn I can't leave the room yet, Collin is still here. Lol

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#39

Forcing kids to start earlier than they need to which hurts their mental and emotional development. In America it's like there's two societies, the well adjusted and the publicly educated.

Teapot_Dragon Report

Final score:
24points
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#40

Getting too involved in students lives outside of school. Whatever goes on outside of school walls/hours is not their business.

Liberteer30 Report

Final score:
15points
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