crazy school rules (1 Viewer)

[Ryan Wright]

In college you are assumed to be mature enough to know when you have to use the restroom, and then come back promptly.

Actually, they don't give a damn if you come back or not. In fact, it's better for them if you pay for the class and then don't attend. That's what I loved about college - I could skip class at will and as long as I still turned in the homework, I still passed. I attended less than two weeks of my Advanced Pascal Programming class for the whole quarter and still got a 3.7, because they don't dock you for not being there. Everything is based on your performance, which is how it should be.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Makes sense to me. Smoking is illegal for people under the age of 18. What business to high schoolers have smoking?

For accuracies sake, it is NOT illegal for those under 18 to smoke. It's illegal for merchants to SELL them cigarettes. If it WAS illegal(and maybe it should be) then the cops would just have to show up after school and start rounding em up.

 

[Andrew_Sch]

Pete_S, where is your school and can I start going there?

 

[Francois Caron]

I went to a private catholic school just outside Montreal and actually lived in a dormitory for the first two years, then a room for the other two. I would go back home on weekends which was a good thing since that means I only had to deal with mom & dad for two days out of seven.

Yes, the school did have rules, but none of them seemed to be as bad as the stories I'm hearing in this thread. Most of them made sense and weren't overly irrational. So what's so different about this private school from all the other schools, both private and public?

The dress code.

Our school didn't have identical uniforms as such, but we were required to dress in an appropriate manner. Jackets, shirts, dress pants and ties for the boys (no tie required if you're wearing a turtleneck), dress shirts and long skirts for the girls (they didn't allow them to wear pants back then, but that might no longer be the case). Colors were limited to blue, brown and black with no excessive designs or logos. Hair must be neat and properly trimmed (buzz cuts not required) and no excessive jewelery. Jeans and sneakers during daytime hours were strictly forbidden. After classes, you could change in whatever you wanted as long as it was still clean.

Now all this stuff ain't as bad as it sounds. By removing what's possibly one of the most stressful elements in a high school kid's life, we didn't have to go nuts trying to visually "fit in". Everyone dressed the same way! And on the whole, no one seemed to object to these rules. It was widely accepted and the only complaints were about wearing something that itched a bit too much.

Another element that was in our favour was the dedication of the teaching staff. The teachers would stay after class and help anyone who had difficulty with just about any subject. During exam time, the line-ups to the teachers' offices would stretch down the hall!

Yes, we did have the occasional drug problems, but they were handled in the most efficient manner. Immediate expulsion. There's no reason to have it in the school, so there's no reason to protect it. In the end, the strict rules helped diminish the risks of a student getting into any serious trouble.

I wasn't much of a student myself, being a bit antisocial at the best of times and a bit crazy the rest of the time. But the staff at that school were tough on me and never let up. It was very hard on my lack of patience but today I don't regret the experience one bit. Eventually I understood why all this was happening and learned the value of keeping a cool head myself.

Today's schools seem to have forgotten this. The teachers only work the minimum hours, the teaching material seems to have degraded, the parents themselves have no respect for school authority... What the hell happened here? A school is suppose to be an institution for learning, but everyone on both sides of the fence seem to have completly forgotten this!

I'll have more to say later. Gotta get back to work!

 

[Danny R]

it is NOT illegal for those under 18 to smoke.

This is not universally true, and is actually more than likely to be false. While its not a FEDERAL offense for minors to smoke, many states (at least 27 in 1996, perhaps more today) do have laws in place prohibiting possession. Also in many areas local city ordinances also may apply.

As for why police don't just round up kids... its simply not a priority... nor a good way for elected officials to win re-election after they've thrown a large number of their constituents kids into jail and given them a rap sheet.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

I never tried to fit in, I dressed how I wanted to and told the rest to go to hell
If they tried to make me wear a tie to school, or ANY kind of uniform, I would have spent a lot of time in the principal's office.

 

[Peter McDonald]

I don't think all, or even most of the kids are the ones disrupting a class. Most of the time it's just the same person laughing, throwing stuff, or walking out in the middle of class...

I get good grades... I spend my lunches in the library or computer lab doing work... I spend several hours a night studying and doing homework... so please don't generalize that all high school kids are disrespectful sloths who don't want an education.

Peter

 

[Chad R]

I disagree on the aspirin. Why not just have the parents sign an agreement releasing the school from all liability if their child downs 20 aspirin? What about people who have to take drugs - diabetics, for example, or people with asthma?

Because the person bringing the aspirin may not be the person who takes it. And yes, even though a theft is involved the school is still liable. And drugs for diabetics and asthma aren't in the same group as aspirin.

 

[Ryan Wright]

Finally, why are you skipping classes in college? Just because you're keeping up your grade point average doesn't mean you're receiving your education (you're paying for an education which is different than getting good grades).

It's "was" skipping classes, because I've been out of college for 6 years, and as for your second statement, that's exactly what it means. A college student with a GPA above 3.5 is most certainly receiving his education whether he's there or not. Or are you going to tell me that you can actually pass your classes if you aren't educated in the material?

And, by the way, I was absolutely not paying for an education. I was paying for a little piece of paper. Find me a college that will teach real-world computing scenerios and I'll be surprised. Everything I do from day to day was learned on my own. Aside from perhaps some social skills, I didn't learn a thing in college that has ever come in handy in my career.

Network administration? Yeah, right. What college course teaches you how to configure a router?

Server/domain administration? That's a good one. You'd be hard pressed to find an I.T. student who can configure and/or manage a server using information they learned from a college course.

Supercomputing? Cluster computing? That's a riot. No college teaches these skills.

Unix/Linux? Forget it. Unless things have changed, you'd be hard pressed to find a good class that shows you how to do anything in a *nix environment.

College has it's place for many fields but it does not teach you how to survive in a professional I.T. career. It can't. These things have to be hands-on and they change so rapidly the only way to learn it is on your own - which means you need a passionate interest in computers & networks. Maybe that's why I.T. people (such as myself) are "geeks" - no college is going to be able to turn a regular Joe into someone capable of administering a network properly.

 

[Ryan Wright]

And yes, even though a theft is involved the school is still liable.

Thanks to the crazy litigious society we live in. You know, it never used to be this way... People used to take responsibility for their own actions, and when they didn't, the system forced them to. You stole aspirin and it made you sick? Good, you got what you deserved. Now, it's, "The poor girl. She borrowed some aspirin from her friend and became deathly ill. The school should never have allowed that aspirin on the property! It's THEIR fault!" (nevermind that she didn't "borrow" it, she stole it, and the school had absolutely nothing to do with it)

It's like that Yates guy. Crazy idiot is trying to blame the doctors for what his wife did. "It's THEIR fault. They didn't treat her condition properly." Please. If it was their fault, they'd be the ones in jail, sir... of course that won't stop him from winning millions in a wrongful death lawsuit against the hospital. Think about that the next time you have to pay your medical bills: The money goes to insurance companies so they can pay for lawsuits brought by people like him.

But now I'm getting WAY off topic and probably venturing into no-no territory for this forum, so I'm just going to quit before I dig this hole any deeper...

 

[Shayne Lebrun]

Ryan,

Unix/Linux? Forget it. Unless things have changed, you'd be hard pressed to find a good class that shows you how to do anything in a *nix environment.

Out of curiosity, are you aware of what the B in 'BSD UNIX' stands for?

 

[Scott Leopold]

To get back to the actual topic, back when I was in high school (graduated in '90), there was a little, tiny rule in the handbook that stated that the school could make any additional rules during the course of the year that they felt were necessary. During my sophomore year, a group of seniors threw a large party. A couple kids were arrested for alcohol-related offenses. As it turns out, fliers had been handed out advertising the party, although there was no mention of alcohol in the fliers. The following Monday, 5 seniors were expelled based on a new rule, which was put into place based on the rule allowing them to come up with any rule they liked. The new rule, the jurisdiction of which now extended back to the beginning of the school year, even though it was conceived in late April, stated that anyone caught producing or handing out literature about an event that takes place on or off of school property, that could possibly make the school look bad, can be expelled. The rule also stated that anyone taking place in any activities anywhere (whether they were on school property, at home, in another state, or even another country), that could potentially make the school look bad, could be expelled. The new rule was extremely vague, and extremely wide-ranging. I'd find out two years later that it applied to kids on Spring Break in Florida.

While there was no evidence of anyone's participation in the party except for the two who received tickets for their offenses, the school chose the 5 seniors they suspected to be most involved with the party, and expelled them. Virtually the entire student body was as upset as the kids & their parents. While nobody was complaining about rules they made over us at school, this rule could be applied to us anywhere, at any time. In protest, a group of seniors decided to quit purchasing lunch at school. This protest was adopted by almost the entire student body, with only a few exceptions. The protest coincided with pizza day and hamburger day, the two biggest money-making days in the cafeteria. While we never heard exact figures, we found out that the school lost thousands over those two days. At the end of the second day (a Friday), the principal came on over the PA and ordered the entire student body to resume paying for their lunches. There was a bit of an uproar over this, and numerous calls were made to the office by outraged parents. The following Monday, the 5 seniors' expulsions had been lifted.

That same year, the school tried to enforce a new, tougher "No Smoking" rule. The new rule applied to students both on and off school property. One friend of mine received a detention when his History teacher saw him smoking in his car on the way to school. The dean of students began going to the McDonald's across the street from the school in the morning and confiscating cigarettes and lighters. One guy I knew threatened a lawsuit if the dean took his Zippo, and was left alone. This rule was overturned not because of parents complaining, but because of McDonald's threatening to call the cops on the dean if they saw him on their property again. Most of the smokers had started going down the street to Burger King for breakfast, which cut deeply into McDonald's business.

 

[Bill Slack]

So, the girls are only allowed to wear tank tops WITHOUT bras on? [In my best Mr. Burns voice:] Excellent.

 

[Ryan L B]

acording to the rules. If the strap is thick enough that it covers the bra, it is ok, but it is not ok to have the actual strap showing.

 

[Ryan Wright]

Out of curiosity, are you aware of what the B in 'BSD UNIX' stands for?

What % of I.T. graduates attended Berkeley or other ivy league school? When I say "college", I mean college for most people. And most colleges don't offer unix classes, or if they do, they're very basic and limited and don't teach you real world skills. At least, that's been my experience.

 

[Mark Larson]

And most colleges don't offer unix classes, or if they do, they're very basic and limited and don't teach you real world skills. At least, that's been my experience.

I agree whol-heartedly. Most of the time, it is just to look good "Yes we offer un*x".

Granted, you have to have beginner classes, but no one has anything better than beginner-level.

Oh, and school rules? Most of the ones i've been subjected to have been fully explainable, other than a few whcih were driven more by profit. (Like only buying food and books from the school's shops)

 

[Ryan L B]

about the swearing. watch Carrie and this is how it works

student"ah sucks" (apparently, this is language for 1976, plus i forget the guy who took carrie to the prom)

teacher: "oh what was that"

student: "ah shucks"

teacher: " that is better"

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Finally, why are you skipping classes in college? Just because you're keeping up your grade point average doesn't mean you're receiving your education (you're paying for an education which is different than getting good grades). I would hope that a college student would care about what they are learning. Even if you feel you know it all, you don't. So don't be so sure that your professors have nothing to teach you, they just might surprise you.

There are always going to be advantages to attending class. But there are just some times you do a better job of learning on your own. Most college professors possess extraordinarily brilliant minds, but some of them make extremely lousy teachers. Besides, most post-college schools (be they medical, law, pharmacy, etc.) only care about the classes you take and that big GPA. If you've got the GPA, why bother even going? There are better things to do, like study on your own free time.

 

[Ryan Wright]

Most college professors possess extraordinarily brilliant minds

Not the community college I went to. They hire people off the street to teach. Most of the "professors" don't even have degrees. Oh, but they do pay them $40 each time they teach a 3 hour class... (a coworker of mine taught classes so he'd have a little extra money to play with - and when he decided to finish his own degree, he was told he would have to take his own class, no exceptions. How silly is that?)

 

[Ryan L B]

does anybody still have the old year books to look at so we can all have a good laugh and so we can argure some more