Classroom Management Tips for Teachers - Changing Stupid Rules

One of the most commonly mentioned reasons why people break rules is that they are perceived as stupid. Stupid rules are followed only when the odds of getting caught are great. Examples of stupid rules abound in school settings; such as silently lining up before going to lunch or no South Park tee shirts allowed.

Stupid rules not only are broken more often than sensible rules, but they generate a disrespect for those who make and enforce them.

Suggestions: Review all rules that are frequently broken. Ask yourself if you would consider them stupid if you were the age of the students in your school or class. Ask your students what rules they think are the most stupid or the most meaningless to them.

If you honestly believe that the rule is stupid, change it. If you need administrator support, make a solid case for eliminating the rule (it helps to have an alternative, more sensible rule to offer as a substitute). A good strategy is to research some of the local laws in your community that are still on the books that are absurd in a modern world. For example, A fire station in Vermont has always had the rule that the hubcaps of fire engines must be cleaned each time the fire engine was returned to the station. This rule was followed although no one knew why. Eventually the chief looked up the history of the rule. It was created when horses drew fire trucks and they were cleaned to get the horses dung off of the wheels.

If you believe the rule is not stupid, explain to your students the reasons for the rule. If the rule is based on a principle that makes sense to the students, there is a good chance they will accept the rule even if they don't like it. Drunk driving is a good example of a strong principle can change behavior. Many years ago it was considered macho and cool to drive after drinking. Young men especially bragged how they drove well after drinking. Comedians such as Foster Brooks and Dean Martin made fun of excessive drinking. The laws against drinking and driving have not changed all that much in the last fifteen years, but people's attitudes have changed a great deal. Drinking is no longer funny. It is the principle that has driven a change in behavior, not the rule.

There will be many instances when you might believe a rule is sensible and your students will not. It is worth taking the time to discuss the differences of opinion with your students and hear what they have to say about it. Maybe you can find alternative rules to meet the same goals that make sense to your students. Remember those fire trucks.

One other strategy is to discuss with the class as a whole and with certain students individually what the best methods are to deal with stupid rules. Talk about how you deal with them in your life, and ask other students how they deal with them. Just admitting the rules are stupid and being open to discuss them may go a long way to encouraging students to follow them.

From: R. Curwin, REDISCOVERING HOPE: OUR GREATEST TEACHING STRATEGY, N.E.S.1992.