Rules are rules, but...

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Two videos were posted on social media highlighting students from two institutions being sent home because they weren’t properly groomed. And like clockwork, we are back to the ‘rules are rules’ rhetoric. And if we are honest with ourselves, the conversation is unfruitful. Asking for the revision of arbitrary (rules) and modification of rules is not encouraging indiscipline. No well-thinking Jamaican is suggesting that educational institutions should be void of rules; however, rules must be relevant and functional.

There are those who argue that a male wearing long hair or a female not wearing a skirt that touches her ankle is distracting and affects their education, and I keep asking for the evidence to support these claims. We cannot genuinely believe that because a young lady’s skirt isn’t at her ankle, it contributes to her not performing well in school.

Nor can we assume that because a young man decides to grow his hair out, he is an underperforming student and will not be a productive member of society. I’d like to borrow from a friend on Twitter who asked, “If enforcing arbitrary rules about hair grooming instils discipline, then surely, after all these years of regulation, Jamaica would be known for its disciplined society – would it not?”

Then some argue that rules prepare young people for the world of work, and it makes me wonder if people who posit this argument have seen the labour landscape in recent years. Do we not see the shifting of the tide?

NO LONGER FUNCTIONAL

At some point, we must realise that some rules just don’t serve us any more, and when they stop serving us they need to be modified.

Another challenge with the ‘rules are rules’ rhetoric is that many of the rules in our institutions were established by school administrators with barely any consultation/ integration with parents and students. This is especially important, because several researchers have indicated that where students are engaged in establishing rules, there is a higher level of compliance with them. This is usually because they can see the rationale for the rule. After all, they were engaged.

In closing, rules are indeed rules, and they should be observed and followed.

However, rules must also make sense, and we cannot skirt around the fact that some rules are decades-old and no longer functional.

JAEMAR JOHNSON

Behaviour Analyst