Things that were banned at your school

[Andrew]

Or for those of you still at school, things that are currently banned at your school. Obviously I'm not taking about illicit substances or illegal activities since those are outlawed by default.

I can't remember anything getting banned when I was at high school aside from some stricter penalties for anyone caught talking on a mobile phone during class. I suppose the general thinking was that since everyone was on the path to becoming a young adult they could look after themselves when it came to fads that involved trading. All the classics were banned during my time at primary school though when fads got out of control or kids got hurt. The list includes:

Marbles: Made a comeback around 1993 but were banned for two reasons. First, some kids were getting ripped off trading for them but the final straw was a kid getting knocked her tooth knocked out when someone threw one across the playground.

Basketball Cards: Outlawed around about the same time when a few kids traded expensive Michael Jordan inserts for a few cards worth about 5c each.

Pogs, Tazos and Oddbodz were all banned around 1995/1996 for the same reason; too many complaints from parents about kids getting involved in bad swaps or kids getting into fights over it.

Strangely yo-yos didn't get banned when they made a brief comeback in 1996, presumably because there weren't any major incidents involving them.

[[Q]]

in middle school, backpacks were oddly enough banned from classrooms and had to be stored in lockers. you could only use them to take books from home to school and vice versa. my cousin who is 4 years older than me, had one of her teachers trip over a backpack and hurt themself which caused it all.

that same cousin also had pagers/beepers banned in her time at high school because they were associated with gang banging and drug dealers.

Raiders clothing & hats were banned from my elementary school becuase theyt were supposedly "gang clothes". Bringing your own balls from home to play at recess were also banned because kids felt entitled to say who could and couldn't play with their ball.

[Andrew]

Bringing your own balls from home to play at recess were also banned because kids felt entitled to say who could and couldn't play with their ball.

That's a bit harsh. Social exclusion is a problem and all but if you're going to do that, you might as well go ahead and force kids to be friends with someone.

[PiksS]

These things were banned during my school time!

Playing cards, i think this goes to all the schools here in Latvia. Reason, because every card game is counted as a gambling game. But the kids still play cards during the pause.

Coca cola and other fizzy drinks were banded this early year, but doesn't count for the highschoolers

And lastly from my schools days the little ball guns!....cuz one guy from my class back in the 3rd class shot in some other guys eye!....

[Patr1ck]

In junior high we used to play this game called suicide at lunch. It was basically an elaborate game of tackle football but it was every man for himself. All the kids were given a detention and letters were sent to our parents.

In high school it got really hot and we started a water gun fight war, spanning over multiple weeks and even going beyond the school. Needless to say, they banned water guns.

Headphones. Some of the security guards were cool, though. They wouldn't confiscate them, just tell us not to let them see us wearign them again.

I think hats and hoodies at one point. Let's not forget the banning of learning.

[JaoSming]

We called that football game Muggle here but we played all the tiem during gym.


The only thing that was banned in my school was hats, so help you god if you wore a hat. It was nice cause "back then" { dammit} if you didnt want to be in high school or if you didnt care etc ppl would just drop out, so the only people in my classes were the ones who actually wanted to be there. So if we wanted to take a day and just sleep it off or listen to music we could.

[Axel]

in middle school, backpacks were oddly enough banned from classrooms and had to be stored in lockers. you could only use them to take books from home to school and vice versa. my cousin who is 4 years older than me, had one of her teachers trip over a backpack and hurt themself which caused it all.

Same when I was in middle school. Then they went to requiring clear backpacks or none at all so they could see if you were trying to smuggle in a weapon or drugs.

I remember yo-yo's being banned in elementary school except during recess. They really made a comeback. Still never learned 'walk the dog'.

The pencils that have multiple little pieces of lead attached to a piece of plastic were also banned. To use the pencil you had to load it up with these little pieces. There were just enough pieces to force the bottom most one out, which you wrote with. Well anyway, kids were using them as blowguns and hitting people with them. BANNED!

A lot of stupid shit was banned. I wish I had high school to do all over again. I'd be the most popular kid ever.

[Jackal]

Skirts. Yes, skirts. Girls weren't allowed to wear skirts, only jeans and pants. Not like that was ever an issue, but okay.

Balloons of any sort. That's because one day a bunch of people sent an email around the island saying on a certain day...bring loads of balloons to be filled so that we could bombard the teachers with them. (Eggs and tomatoes were also used.) The following year they actually searched our underwears to get our balloons.

Foil was also not allowed for a while, some kids would use the foil they're parents gave them for their lunch sandwhich and make fake silver teeth out of them. Most of us had lunchboxes or just bought lunch from the cantine, but some people...well let's just say they were a bit ghetto.

[Dan's Brain]

What's with all the nostalgia threads, Andrew? First the collection one, now this. Not that I'm complaining, but is there a deep-seated reason for it? Age catching up again?

Steel Rulers - for obvious reasons really.

White Out - replaced spray cans as a graffiti artist's weapon of choice (if "White Out" doesnt exist in your country, it's also known as Liquid Paper)

Gladiators first hit our screens when i was in Grade 5 or thereabouts, and kids would replicate some of that.

And British Bulldogs - the most extreme of extreme sports: A line of kids would line up down one end of the oval, and another few kids would be "It" at the other end. On the shouted phrase, "British Bulldogs", everyone would run like fuck toward the other end of the oval, and the guys who were "It" tried to stop them using any means necessary. - I cracked my head open once, and another kid broke his leg, so it was discontinued.

Basketball cards were also banned because one kid stole one once.

Also, the Teaching of Evolution.

[Sauru]

Skirts. Yes, skirts. Girls weren't allowed to wear skirts, only jeans and pants. Not like that was ever an issue, but okay.

skirts were banned in my school also unless, she was wearing shorts under them

[Jackal]

I think it's silly, it disturbs the natural order of life.

[Andrew]

What's with all the nostalgia threads, Andrew? First the collection one, now this. Not that I'm complaining, but is there a deep-seated reason for it? Age catching up again?

Maybe a little. Also, with General Talk being so quiet I thought it be a good idea to have a few threads where people talk about themselves and common interests.

And British Bulldogs - the most extreme of extreme sports: A line of kids would line up down one end of the oval, and another few kids would be "It" at the other end. On the shouted phrase, "British Bulldogs", everyone would run like fuck toward the other end of the oval, and the guys who were "It" tried to stop them using any means necessary. - I cracked my head open once, and another kid broke his leg, so it was discontinued.

I can't remember if that was ever banned at my primary school. I think the tag version of it was allowed, which we referred to as "Red Rover" or "Red Rover, Crossover".

I just remembered something that kind of qualifies as a ban from high school. Because previous Year 12s had gone a bit crazy on the annual muckup days, our year was forced to have a very tame muckup day with the most rebellious activity simply being the decision to come and go as you pleased that day. A far cry from when I was in Year 7 and one of my friends was hit by a waterbomb filled with bits of fish.

[Joe']

Only thing that comes to mind are cell phones. Some dude at my school videotaped his teacher with his phone and he got into serious legal problems. It even made the evening news.

We don't have any kind of security or competent/caring teachers at schools round here so even if they banned something it wouldn't matter.

[el badman]

Mescaline and canned anchovies are the only things that come to my mind.
Oh, and mullets. Very much frown upon.

[cyanide]

my cousin who is 4 years older than me, had one of her teachers trip over a backpack and hurt themself which caused it all.

Jaesus Christ. The teacher should ban himself for not paying attention.

Marbles...Pogs...

...Magic the Gathering (I never played of course), since they were all forms of "gambling."

Because we have winter here, snowball fights were also banned. Those were the most fun 2 days of recess of my life Oddly enough, WWE style wresting existed for most of my elementary school days.

[Oznogrd]

Cards of any sort: From Magic to Pokemon to Yu Gi Oh to even just regular playing cards were for the most part not allowed due to "unfair" trades starting fights and the like.

Pogs most certainly got banned

Bringing our own ball to play was also a big no, but they had no problem with me and my friends bringing chess sets (yes i was a dork)

All kinds of walkmans/cellphones

Most things related to adult tv shows: south park, simpsons, Family Guy

The obvious drug paraphenalia (shirts/hats)

and the one i never understood: pajama pants.

[Andrew]

Come to think of it, some teachers at my high school were adamant that playing cards weren't appropriate regardless of whether you were gambling or not; few people actually did anyway. I don't think there was ever an official ban on them though.

[el badman]

Most things related to adult tv shows: south park, simpsons, Family Guy

ridiculous shit...

[Fitzy]

And British Bulldogs - the most extreme of extreme sports: A line of kids would line up down one end of the oval, and another few kids would be "It" at the other end. On the shouted phrase, "British Bulldogs", everyone would run like fuck toward the other end of the oval, and the guys who were "It" tried to stop them using any means necessary. - I cracked my head open once, and another kid broke his leg, so it was discontinued.

We used to play that at primary school all the time, but it got banned as well. It even got banned from playing it at footy training
My schools havent been to bad on bannings. Just the usual things like marbles, pokemon cards, dragon ball z tazos, crazy bones! (any one remember those?) and digimons.
At high school i cant remember anything being banned, except for muck up day

[CKal]

Cell phones (and basically all other electronic devices except for dictionary and watches)
Cards (of any kind)
Wristbands
Hair dye

The above list contains items that are/were banned in Hong Kong. And we had school uniforms in Hong Kong, and the girls were supposed to use their skills learned in the "Home Economics" class (sewing) to extend the length of their dress (it's like a one-piece shirt plus skirt, if I'm correct with my diction) below knee-level. If the skirt part was too short, you would be taken to the office and they would had a few words with you.

And boys, the hair couldn't be touching the ears, and the back of the collar. So that day my hair gel went weak, and the hair fell back down or something like that, I broke the school rules.

All accessories had to be either blue, navy, black or white - school colors. Boys were not expected to wear any "head gear", since you don't see Asians walking around with headbands. The girls, the too "fancy" accessories - a hair ribbon that's too big or something, was not allowed. And you had to tie your hair if it was longer than shoulder-length.

Earrings were allowed, but their is a size limit measured, I think, in millimeters.

The school blazer was part of the whole set of "winter uniform", and therefore even when it's as hot as ~19˚C, you were still forced to wear it.

And that day my friends and I were playing Big 2 in a nearby McD, the disciplinary teacher, who was also a Vice Principal, came and told us to come to the office - apparently we damaged the school reputation by playing cards outside school property.

Yah - now you have some sort of an image of how studying in Hong Kong was like (I use the past tense for this whole thing because now I am happily studying in Canada).

[Sauru]

Come to think of it, some teachers at my high school were adamant that playing cards weren't appropriate regardless of whether you were gambling or not; few people actually did anyway. I don't think there was ever an official ban on them though.

we used to gamble at my school all the time, mostly dice though. played alot of poker too but dice was alot easier to get a quick game going

[Sam The Man]

Just about 3 days ago, bags were also banned from my highschool. you cant bring them to class or carry them around with you anymore. Only to and from school, then it has to be in your locker.
In Primary School, gameboys were banned, because lots of kids kept losing theirs or they were being stolen.
British Bulldog was also banned after many injuries.
Our flying fox used to be pretty long and it was running slightly downhill. Me and my friends thought it would be a fun idea to get someone to hold on to the handle at the start, we would drag them along the railing at high speeds untill they came to the end. Where they would let go and go flying through the air into the tan bark. This was also banned when my friend broke his arm in 2 places on the 3rd day of playing.
Beyblades were banned because too many kids were hurting themselves playing.


In high school the only things banned are throwing food, because of allergy risks.
Muck up day is also banned for 2 reasons:
The first was that in the 80's or something at our school, the Year 12's decided to throw a bag or flour into the traffic, on the road that runs parallel with out school.
There was a guy on a motor bike, the bag was stuck around his face, he lost control of the bike, and it killed one of the students in the group watching....

It had a brief return when I was in year 7, but banned again after the year 12's climbed up onto the roof, spray painted "YEAR OF 2005" on the roof in big letters. It took a LOT of money from the school to get it cleaned.

[Fitzy]

Cell phones (and basically all other electronic devices except for dictionary and watches)
Cards (of any kind)
Wristbands
Hair dye

The above list contains items that are/were banned in Hong Kong. And we had school uniforms in Hong Kong, and the girls were supposed to use their skills learned in the "Home Economics" class (sewing) to extend the length of their dress (it's like a one-piece shirt plus skirt, if I'm correct with my diction) below knee-level. If the skirt part was too short, you would be taken to the office and they would had a few words with you.

And boys, the hair couldn't be touching the ears, and the back of the collar. So that day my hair gel went weak, and the hair fell back down or something like that, I broke the school rules.

All accessories had to be either blue, navy, black or white - school colors. Boys were not expected to wear any "head gear", since you don't see Asians walking around with headbands. The girls, the too "fancy" accessories - a hair ribbon that's too big or something, was not allowed. And you had to tie your hair if it was longer than shoulder-length.

Earrings were allowed, but their is a size limit measured, I think, in millimeters.

The school blazer was part of the whole set of "winter uniform", and therefore even when it's as hot as ~19˚C, you were still forced to wear it.

And that day my friends and I were playing Big 2 in a nearby McD, the disciplinary teacher, who was also a Vice Principal, came and told us to come to the office - apparently we damaged the school reputation by playing cards outside school property.

Yah - now you have some sort of an image of how studying in Hong Kong was like (I use the past tense for this whole thing because now I am happily studying in Canada).

holy crap, they might as well ban you from attending school

[Andrew]

It had a brief return when I was in year 7, but banned again after the year 12's climbed up onto the roof, spray painted "YEAR OF 2005" on the roof in big letters. It took a LOT of money from the school to get it cleaned.

I've heard that all Year 12 events have since been banned at my old school since an incident a couple of years ago. Some kids stole a bunch of street signs and roadwork signs, much the chagrin of the principal who arrived in my final year bringing a snobby attitude from her days at a Sydney private school. The council was willing to let it go as long as everything was returned but the principal insisted a punishment be handed out. In the end, nothing happened to the students and the school was forced to pay $5000 so all future Year 12 activities were banned (I'm not sure if they've been reinstated).

I also heard of a graduating class before my time at the school who collaborated with students from another nearby high school by digging up the signs out the front of each of the schools and switching them. It was fairly common to see tables and chairs up on the roof of the hall, honey smeared on the railings and water pistol/water bomb fights going on around the school throughout muckup days.

[Sam The Man]

Haha, that would be quite funny looking around the streets with no signs at all!
We only have 2 big buildings with all our classrooms coming of them.
So by large letters, i mean 2-3 metres big. I think they might have used paint. Im not sure, I was only in year 7.

Our year 12's also have a tradition of beating up anyone who runs into their common room (which is basically like a hallway). Every year the year 7's, 8's & 9's try to run through, escaping through the doors on the other side, before any Year 12's catch you. The prize is some money the year 12's give you. But the consequences...lets just say a kid got caught and they tied him up with duct tape, emptied 2 bottles of Jiff detergent in his hair, put him in a wheely bin, and rolled him down a hill.
So every year, and the start of the school year, the teachers always keep out an eye for kids trying to run through, and make sure the Year 12's dont take it overboard.