Remember those utterly baffling school rules from your student days? Turns out, schools with head-scratching regulations are a global phenomenon, and Japan is no exception.
As a brutal cold snap sweeps across Japan, sending temperatures plummeting nationwide, some schools are stubbornly sticking to their guns,
▼ Just today (February 12th), "タイツ禁止" (Tights Ban) was trending on X (formerly Twitter).
With the bone-chilling cold hitting hard, students flocked to social media to vent their frustrations over school dress codes. "My school won't let us wear tights, it's infuriating!" one student fumed. Another lamented, "Winter is absolutely brutal..." and "Can't even wear sweatpants under my uniform for the commute, it's freezing!" Netizens are baffled by the lack of flexibility, questioning why students are forced to endure such discomfort without proper cold-weather gear.
One Japanese Twitter user recounted a student guidance meeting where they confronted a senior teacher who refused to budge on the rules: "You hated these rules when you were a student, didn't you? So isn't it completely unfair to force the same unreasonable rules on students now?" The room reportedly went silent. The user argued that it's wrong for all students to suffer because of one or two individuals' stubbornness, adding that it's a thankless job for teachers to enforce these absurd rules while also having to cater to senior staff.
Excessive control over student hairstyles, clothing, and other minor details has long been criticized as "unreasonable school rules," or what's commonly known as "black school rules." However, as public opinion mounts, calls for reform are growing louder, leading some schools to proactively adjust their regulations and offer students more flexibility in their clothing choices.
According to the founder of the "Abolish Black School Rules!" project: "Our investigations reveal that some school rules aren't based on climate or health factors, but simply because certain clothing items are deemed 'too fashionable,' leading to a ban. Even when students explicitly state they're cold, schools refuse to relax the rules, which is utterly unreasonable."
Many netizens agree that these archaic rules should evolve with the times. Clinging to such rigid, old-fashioned notions for reasonable requests only breeds student discontent and forces them to suffer through winter's chill.
Of course, not all schools are sticking to these rigid rules. Some have already updated their policies, allowing students to choose appropriate warm clothing like puffer jackets and hoodies, which are now officially part of the uniform. This highlights that while some conservative factions persist in Japanese schools, unable to adapt, civil organizations are actively pushing for change. They've submitted petitions to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, hoping to improve these "black school rules" and ensure students receive better treatment.
via： FNNプライムオンライン