15 Incredibly Weird "Classroom Rules" Students Had To Follow That Made Their School Experience Harder

Whether you were the student or the parent of a kid, you may have experienced some wild classroom rule that made you think, "Well, this is different." So, I asked the BuzzFeed Community: "What is the weirdest 'classroom rule' you've encountered in a teacher's classroom" and people provided some interesting stories. Here's what they had to say below:

1."We weren’t allowed to say that we had to use the bathroom. We had to call it 'The Thunderbox.' My teacher wasn’t super strict, but god save the poor soul who asked to use the bathroom."

2."While in elementary school, I was very tiny for my age. So, my feet were unable to touch the floor while I was seated at my desk. The teacher was adamant that your feet should touch the floor. Embarrassing as it was for me, she put a huge dictionary on the floor under my desk. I guess she thought that would solve the problem."

—Redcherokee

3."There was a three-strikes system in my second-grade classroom. After the third strike, everyone had to call you 'Poopy Poo McPoohead' for the rest of the day, and if they called you by your actual name, then THEY got a strike."

4."At my son’s school, they earn 'money' for good behavior. They get to go to the 'store' once a month to spend their money and buy little trinkets and stuff you’d buy from the dollar store. My kid's first-grade teacher would make the children pay 'money' to use the restroom. They’re in FIRST GRADE! Of course, they aren’t going to give up their 'money' to go potty. It resulted in a lot of accidents and unhappy parents. Needless to say, she isn’t a fan favorite at his school."

—ScareBear615

5."I had an elementary school librarian who would make you greet her pet rock family before she let you check out books. It was an entire multi-generational family in a huge Victorian-style doll house on the other end of the library but within eyesight. She would make you get out of line, say hello to them, and then have you rejoin the back of the checkout line. She would even ask if you said hello to specific-named pet rock family members. It was super weird and more than a little creepy. I think she singled me out to ask if I greeted them because I wasn't super subtle about my ambivalence and later dislike towards the rocks."

6."My fourth-grade teacher refused to let the students talk about Beyoncé. Why? Her cousin claimed that the music video for 'Formation' had inspired someone to fire shots outside of his house."

—Natasha, 17, Washington

7."At my Catholic middle school, we had to call deviled eggs 'angeled eggs.'”

8."When I was in seventh grade, I had a really old math teacher who NEVER let us say that we were on our periods or say anything about menstruation. She was very insistent. She said that if we ever had to say we were on our periods, we needed to say that we were 'drinking the moon,' which is not a euphemism I have heard before or since. She totally made it up."

—Melanie, 27, New York

9."It was not a teacher but a substitute. I was in fourth grade, and this guy walked into the class and requested immediately that we call him 'His Royal Majesty,' and he was so dead serious about it. Obviously, all of these fourth graders were very confused, and during roll call, no one said it except for the class clown, who became the sub's favorite. About twenty minutes later, he told us to read silently while he reviewed our math lesson. We silently read the whole day since he fell asleep and even excused ourselves to lunch and back. He still slept the whole day. Our whole class went to the office the next day and got him fired. No one ever saw him again."

10."Kids weren’t allowed to wear character T-shirts because it might make them pretend to be that character. For example, if a kid wore a Spider-Man T-shirt — gasp — they might play like Spider-Man. Can you even imagine??!"

—hannahd4a51a07c0

11."My language arts teacher would only loan you a pencil if you took your shoe off and left it at her desk. You only got your shoe back when you returned the pencil."

12."My third-grade teacher was kind of strict. We had snack time every day, but we were only allowed to eat what we brought in if it was healthy and if we brought a napkin. When getting a drink from the water fountain, she would count to three while each student took a turn and would not allow another second more. She allowed three bathroom breaks throughout the day where everyone would go together as a class, and if you had to go outside of one of the scheduled times, she would lecture you about how you should have gone before."

—Anonymous, 39, Massachusetts

13."We weren’t allowed to pick up sticks at recess."

14."My sixth-grade English teacher used to blast the AC year-round, even in the middle of winter; and we lived in the Northeast. She said it was because she had asthma. We tried to bring jackets into the classroom to get through it, so she forbade us from wearing jackets during class, saying it was 'bad for us' to wear jackets indoors."

—Carly, 29, New York

15."My kid has braces, which has resulted in painfully chapped, cracked, and sometimes bleeding lips. I got a note about them breaking the 'no applying makeup in class' rule. The makeup in question? A stick of Carmex. I guess the rule also applied to ChapStick. I had to get my kid a doctor’s note... to put on ChapStick."

Have you ever experienced a bizarre classroom rule? If so, tell us what it was in the comments below.