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These Ridiculous School Rules Are Actually Enforced in 2025

June 3, 2025 | Leave a Comment

These Ridiculous School Rules Are Actually Enforced in 2025

Parents might think they’ve seen it all—until they get a call that their child was written up for humming too loudly or wearing a hoodie. In 2025, some schools have adopted rules that go beyond strict and cross the line into straight-up bizarre. While discipline and structure are important, the rise of ultra-controlled environments has many families scratching their heads. From rules about breathing too hard to banning birthday cupcakes, the policies some schools are enforcing today are as real as they are ridiculous. Let’s look at some of the most outrageous, over-the-top, and downright ridiculous school rules currently being enforced.

1. No Talking During Lunch—At All

One of the most common ridiculous school rules in 2025 is the no-talking lunch policy. In some schools, kids are expected to eat silently, without socializing, laughing, or even whispering. The reasoning? To keep the cafeteria calm and avoid food fights or disruptions. But for many students, lunch is the one break in the day to unwind and connect with friends. Silencing kids during their only real downtime creates unnecessary tension and makes school feel more like a detention center than a place for learning.

2. Banned From Bringing Their Own Water Bottles

Yes, this one is real. Some schools have implemented policies that forbid students from bringing their own water bottles from home. The concern is that students may hide prohibited substances or that outside bottles can’t be properly monitored. But this means students are often left relying on school fountains or approved branded bottles, which may not be clean or easily accessible. In an era where health and hydration are emphasized, banning reusable water bottles is one of the more baffling ridiculous school rules. It ends up punishing everyone instead of solving an isolated issue.

3. Hoodies = Detention

At many schools, simply wearing a hoodie—especially with the hood up—is a fast track to disciplinary action. Administrators claim it prevents hiding headphones or disrupts dress code standards, but for kids, hoodies are often about comfort, warmth, or sensory regulation. With no evidence that a hoodie affects learning outcomes, these rigid rules have left many parents and students frustrated. In colder climates and drafty classrooms, banning hoodies just seems petty. It’s a dress code choice that says more about control than classroom focus.

4. Hand-Holding Is “Public Display of Affection”

A few districts now consider hand-holding—yes, even between friends or siblings—a violation of PDA rules. In schools enforcing this, students can receive warnings or even disciplinary write-ups for what used to be considered harmless or supportive behavior. These policies are often enforced inconsistently and can make kids feel shamed for showing affection or empathy. While inappropriate behavior should be addressed, lumping hand-holding in with making out sends the wrong message. It teaches kids to suppress connection rather than express kindness.

5. No Backpacks in Classrooms

To reduce clutter or minimize the risk of contraband, some schools have implemented a no-backpacks-in-classroom policy. Students are expected to carry only what they need or use clear bags provided by the school. The problem? Kids end up juggling armfuls of supplies, losing things in the hallway, or being late to class because of extra locker trips. It’s another example of ridiculous school rules that create more hassle than safety. Organization should be taught—not made more difficult.

6. Assigned Bathroom Times

Some schools have started enforcing rigid bathroom schedules, where students are only allowed to go at designated times. Need to go between periods or during a lesson? Too bad. While the rule aims to prevent hallway roaming or phone use, it often leads to unnecessary discomfort or embarrassment. These policies ignore the fact that every child’s body is different—and that emergencies aren’t always predictable. Punishing kids for basic needs isn’t discipline, it’s micromanagement.

7. No Celebrating Birthdays

Gone are the days of cupcakes and birthday songs in some schools, which now ban all birthday celebrations during class time. The justification is to prevent food allergies, time disruption, or “exclusion.” But removing even a simple acknowledgment—like allowing a sticker or birthday pencil—has made school environments feel overly sanitized. While inclusivity matters, many parents and students feel these bans go too far. It’s a small joy that could be managed, not erased.

8. Zero-Tolerance for Pencil Dropping

Believe it or not, students in some schools have been disciplined for intentionally dropping pencils. Administrators argue that it’s used to create distractions or signal classmates during tests. While it’s true that some students use subtle antics to disrupt, treating a dropped pencil as a criminal act stretches logic. Not every action needs to be policed with zero tolerance. It’s another one of those ridiculous school rules where common sense would go a long way.

9. No Running… Even Outside

In some elementary schools, students are prohibited from running during recess. That’s right—recess, the time meant for physical play, comes with a “no running” rule. School officials cite injury prevention or crowd control, but kids are being punished for doing what comes naturally. It contradicts everything we know about child development and healthy activity. When a school bans running during free time, it’s not just ridiculous—it’s counterproductive.

10. No Talking in Hallways Between Classes

Finally, some schools have implemented silent transitions, where kids are expected to move between classes without speaking. The goal is to maintain order, but it creates a robotic and cold environment. Talking is how kids connect, decompress, and feel human between academic demands. Enforcing silence in the hallways is not only unrealistic, it’s damaging to school culture. Of all the ridiculous school rules, this one feels especially out of touch with real child behavior.

When Common Sense Gets Left Behind

Rules are supposed to keep kids safe and help them learn—but when enforcement becomes overzealous, schools risk creating joyless environments that do more harm than good. These ridiculous school rules show how policies can quickly go from reasonable to extreme, leaving students stressed and families frustrated. Parents have the power to speak up when policies don’t make sense. Because if we want kids to thrive, school needs to feel like a place built for humans, not robots.

Has your child’s school enforced a rule that made you do a double take? Share the most ridiculous school rules you’ve encountered in the comments!

Read More:

If Your Child Is an Introvert, These 7 School Rules Might Be Crushing Them

Are Parental Rights Being Ignored in Public School Curriculums?

Catherine Reed
Catherine Reed

Catherine is a tech-savvy writer who has focused on the personal finance space for more than eight years. She has a Bachelor’s in Information Technology and enjoys showcasing how tech can simplify everyday personal finance tasks like budgeting, spending tracking, and planning for the future. Additionally, she’s explored the ins and outs of the world of side hustles and loves to share what she’s learned along the way. When she’s not working, you can find her relaxing at home in the Pacific Northwest with her two cats or enjoying a cup of coffee at her neighborhood cafe.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: Back to School, parenting and education, ridiculous school rules, school culture, school discipline, school dress code, school policies, school policy 2025

9 Reasons The Principal Keeps Calling You To The School (And It Might Be Your Fault)

June 2, 2025 | Leave a Comment

9 Reasons The Principal Keeps Calling You To The School And It Might Be Your Fault

Few things spike a parent’s anxiety quite like seeing the school’s number pop up on your phone again. And when the principal keeps calling you, it’s tempting to assume your child is just having a tough time or the school is being overly dramatic. But sometimes, it’s worth pausing to ask: is there anything I might be doing—or not doing—that’s adding fuel to the fire? From overlooked routines at home to parenting habits that show up in the classroom, your influence may go further than you realize. Here are nine reasons the principal keeps calling you, and how you might be playing a bigger role than you think.

1. Your Child Is Constantly Unprepared

If your kid repeatedly shows up without homework, lunch, or basic school supplies, the principal may eventually step in. When this happens regularly, staff begin to see a pattern—one that may start at home. Whether it’s disorganized mornings, no set routines, or assuming kids will manage it all themselves, lack of prep can spiral quickly. Teachers often do their best to help, but chronic forgetfulness disrupts the classroom. When the principal keeps calling you about it, they’re likely hoping for changes beyond the school walls.

2. They’re Tired—And Everyone Can Tell

Sleep-deprived kids often act out, lose focus, or seem emotionally on edge. If your child isn’t getting enough rest at home, they’ll bring that exhaustion to school, and the results aren’t subtle. Overtired children may melt down more easily, struggle to concentrate, or even get physically aggressive. If the principal keeps calling you due to behavior issues, an honest look at bedtime routines might reveal the real problem. It’s not about being a bad parent—it’s about adjusting habits that help your child succeed.

3. You Downplay Their Behavior

If your first reaction is, “They’d never do that,” when you hear about a school incident, you might unintentionally be shutting down important conversations. Defensiveness can send the message that you’re not open to working with the school. The principal keeps calling you because they need collaboration, not denial. Taking your child’s side without hearing the full story may reinforce the wrong behavior at school. Keeping an open mind encourages trust and solutions.

4. You Talk Negatively About School in Front of Your Child

Kids absorb more than we think, and when they hear you criticize teachers or complain about school policies, it changes how they engage in the classroom. If they sense you don’t respect authority, they may mirror that behavior. The principal keeps calling you because your child might be testing boundaries, refusing to follow instructions, or acting like the rules don’t apply to them. A shift in tone at home can help reinforce the importance of mutual respect.

5. They Don’t Know How to Handle Conflict

Children aren’t born with conflict resolution skills—they learn them. If your child is constantly arguing, hitting, or tattling, it may be a sign they haven’t been taught how to manage their feelings. The principal keeps calling you because these issues are interfering with learning time. Modeling healthy communication, emotional regulation, and problem-solving at home is key. School can support it, but the foundation begins with you.

6. They Struggle With Authority

If your child regularly pushes back against teachers or refuses to follow instructions, it may stem from a lack of consistent boundaries at home. Kids who don’t have structure outside of school often struggle with expectations inside it. The principal keeps calling you when your child won’t listen, not to shame you—but to get help reinforcing consistent discipline. Practicing firm but loving limits at home helps them understand that rules exist for a reason.

7. You’re Not Responding to the First Calls

Sometimes the reason the principal keeps calling you is because you didn’t return the last one. Ignoring early outreach can make school staff feel like you’re not engaged, and that frustration may escalate the situation. Even if you’re busy or don’t know what to say, acknowledging the call shows that you’re willing to be involved. Proactive communication builds trust and can keep small issues from turning into big problems.

8. They’re Repeating What They Hear at Home

When kids show up repeating language, jokes, or opinions from adults, it can sometimes create unexpected issues in the classroom. This is especially true if those remarks are inappropriate, offensive, or just plain confusing in a school context. The principal keeps calling you when those comments disrupt the learning environment or make other students uncomfortable. Kids don’t always understand context, which is why it’s important to be mindful of what they overhear.

9. Your Child Is Struggling—and They Need Your Help

Not every phone call is about punishment. Sometimes, the principal keeps calling you because your child is having a hard time socially, emotionally, or academically—and they’re looking for solutions. If your child seems more anxious, withdrawn, or frustrated at school, it might be time for extra support. By working together, you can figure out what’s really going on and make a plan to help your child thrive.

When the Phone Rings, Take a Breath

No parent wants to feel blamed, especially when it comes to their child’s behavior or struggles at school. But if the principal keeps calling you, it’s a sign that something isn’t working—and you’re a crucial part of making it better. The goal isn’t to point fingers. It’s to build a bridge between home and school so your child can cross into success with confidence.

Have you ever gotten a call from the principal that caught you off guard? How did you respond, and what did it teach you? Share your story in the comments!

Read More:

10 School Mistakes That Follow Kids for Years

6 Reasons Why Sending Your Child to Private School Won’t Change Their Outcome

Catherine Reed
Catherine Reed

Catherine is a tech-savvy writer who has focused on the personal finance space for more than eight years. She has a Bachelor’s in Information Technology and enjoys showcasing how tech can simplify everyday personal finance tasks like budgeting, spending tracking, and planning for the future. Additionally, she’s explored the ins and outs of the world of side hustles and loves to share what she’s learned along the way. When she’s not working, you can find her relaxing at home in the Pacific Northwest with her two cats or enjoying a cup of coffee at her neighborhood cafe.

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: Back to School, child discipline, parent involvement, parenting tips, school behavior, school communication, student behavior issues, the principal keeps calling you

Preparing Easy School Lunches and Keeping Your Sanity

August 12, 2015 | Leave a Comment

It's easy to lose your sanity during back to school time. Here's how you can prepare for easy school lunches that are  quick and healthy to put together.I have a love/hate relationship with lunches. I love making them because I have control over what my family is eating and most importantly it’s much easier on the budget than either buying out every day or, in my daughter’s case, paying an additional $5.00 per day for her daycare. Though we still do have an occasional lunch out, 90% of the time you’ll find me in the kitchen after our daughter is in bed, prepping our lunches for the next day.

I’m the least fussy person in the world to satisfy when it comes to lunch. If we have no real ‘’meal worthy food’’ in the house I’m perfectly content with taking a bunch of fruit and snacks for the day. My kid however isn’t so easy to please. Thankfully she thrives on routine and for now we have a few easy go-to’s that we’re able to rotate.

The biggest downside when I think about lunch prep is time. My husband cannot for the life of him figure out what takes me so long when I tell him I’m going to make our lunches. Honestly it took time to figure out, but when I’m organized I can prep in less than half the time it would normally take me. To do this I’ve found a few tricks to make prepping lunches a little easier.

If your kids are heading back to school these tips can help you with their school lunches.

Prep, well in advance

Leaving all lunch requirements to the night before can be stressful. There is often more involved than you think and your 5 minute intention quickly turns into a 45 minute endeavour. By prepping a few things in advance you can shave quite a bit of time off your evening (or morning) lunch packing routine.

Simple things like having fruits and veggies already washed can be a time saver. Pre-pack these things in portion sized package so they can be grabbed and thrown into the bag. Our daughter loves a simple PB and J sandwich so I’ll usually make a few at once and freeze them. They freeze and thaw perfectly fine and makes my life much easier when they’re done.

Think outside the box

Growing up, lunch was a sandwich, drink and fruit. I don’t remember ever questioning it, that’s just what we got. There were variations on the sandwich and bread but that was about it. Though our daughter does likes her sandwiches, she also loves even easier stuff like crackers and cheese. I buy multigrain rice crackers (rice stays much harder and crunchier longer than traditional crackers), and will send her with those, hummus and cheese. Throw in a fruit or veggie and her yogurt and it’s the fastest lunch to pack!

Organize the fridge and cupboard

This goes with prep but keeping things organized makes everything easier. I have a basket where our snacks go, a place for the yogurt in the fridge and a dedicated spot for fruit. It allows me to open the cupboard or fridge, grab what I need and throw in the lunch bag, almost with my eyes closed. I always pack our lunches with: a ‘’main’’+ water + yogurt + fruit or veggie. Having a system in place makes my life so much easier.

Bringing our own lunches saves us in many ways. Not only are we saving a ton of money by packing food from home (an average of $2-$3/lunch vs. >$10 eating out), we’re saving our health by controlling our portions and caloric intakes. Though there can be prep work involved in the beginning, once you start ‘’brown bagging it’’ it will quickly become second nature.

Catherine
Catherine

Catherine is a first time momma to a rambunctious toddler. When she isn’t soaking up all that motherhood has to offer, you can find her blogging over at Plunged in Debt where she chronicles her and her husbands journey out of debt. You can also follow her on Twitter.

plungedindebt.com

Filed Under: Healthy Living & Eating Tagged With: Back to School, easy school lunches

5 Smart Ways to Save on Back to School Supplies

August 20, 2014 | Leave a Comment

save on back to school suppliesIt’s hard to believe that we’re more than half way through August. Depending on where you live and the type of school system you’re in, kids may already be back to school but the majority of kids have a couple more weeks to enjoy before hitting the books again.

There is a local radio station trying to fundraise and gather a bunch of school supplies for local underprivileged children.

It’s funny, I always think about stuff like food and shelter but don’t often think about the necessity and cost involved with stuff like school supplies, after all it was something my mom always just took care of. The station has been quite successful and I’m glad too since having school supplies may be the key to getting out of poverty for some of these kids. There’s no doubt that proper school supplies are expensive but there are, like most things, way to save.

Reuse

I used to beg my mom for a new zipper closed binder every year and most times she’d say no since there was nothing wrong with my old one. Since she was buying I didn’t have much room for argument but she was right. If there is something that can be reused (zipper binders, book bags, math sets) do it! If you take care of your stuff there’s no need to re-buy everything each year.

Buy Used

At least this is the case with post-secondary kids. There is often no need to buy brand new text books. I never had any issue (in two university degrees) buying used books. Unless the texts were changed entirely, and they rarely are, I could always get away with using an edition one to two years old, the profs often giving the readings to multiple editions for this very reason.

Stock Up

If there’s a really great sale on an item you’ll know you’ll use (like paper and pens) stock up for a few years. I remember one year packages of loose-leaf paper were on sale for $0.09 with no limit. My mom bought enough for almost four years’ worth of education for my sister and I. Obviously this is space limited for certain items.

Shop the Sales

Pay attention to local sales and shop around. A lot of larger box stores will not only price match but beat by 5-10% with can add up to a large savings in the long run especially if you have more than one kid!

Buy Year Round

For things like school clothes, though there are good sales late summer pending fall return to school, I find the best sales for clothes to be after Christmas. Though this is often an expensive time of year anyway, if you can, it may save you money for upcoming school years to buy clothes then instead of August/September.

School definitely isn’t free, there are plenty of costs involved from supplies, clothes and projects year-round. If you have time to properly plan what, when and where you’ll buy certain things though, it could save you a ton of money!

Catherine
Catherine

Catherine is a first time momma to a rambunctious toddler. When she isn’t soaking up all that motherhood has to offer, you can find her blogging over at Plunged in Debt where she chronicles her and her husbands journey out of debt. You can also follow her on Twitter.

plungedindebt.com

Filed Under: Education, Money and Finances, Uncategorized Tagged With: Back to School, save on back to school supplies, save on school supplies

Kindergarten….WHAT!!!!

August 21, 2011 | Leave a Comment

I can’t believe Harrison, my oldest boy, is going to Kindergarten in one week!  If you read my last post you know there are a lot of changes going on.  Shortly after Kindergarten starts, we are going to be moving to a brand new house, a brand new school district and a brand new Day Care.  It’s a lot of changes for these two little guys to deal with.  Luckily, our new school district is letting Harrison start even though he won’t be living in the school district for a few more weeks.

I spent part of today looking for tips on getting kids ready for school and I found this list of articles to be pretty helpful.

Do you have any tips for when your child starts kindergarten?

Brian
Brian

Brian is the founder of Kids Ain’t Cheap and is now sharing his journey through parenthood.

 
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Filed Under: Education, Random Musings Tagged With: Back to School, Kindergarten, Moving

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Basic Principles Of Good Parenting

Here some basic principles for good parenting:

  1. What You Do Matters: Your kids are watching you. So, be purposeful about what you want to accomplish.
  2. You Can’t be Too Loving: Don’t replace love with material possessions, lowered expectations or leniency.
  3. Be Involved Your Kids Life: Arrange your priorities to focus on what your kid’s needs. Be there mentally and physically.
  4. Adapt Your Parenting: Children grow quickly, so keep pace with your child’s development.
  5. Establish and Set Rules: The rules you set for children will establish the rules they set for themselves later.  Avoid harsh discipline and be consistent.
  6. Explain Your Decisions: What is obvious to you may not be evident to your child. They don’t have the experience you do.
  7. Be Respectful To Your Child: How you treat your child is how they will treat others.  Be polite, respectful and make an effort to pay attention.
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