Dear Editor,

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.

But, if we are honest with ourselves, the conversation is unfruitful. Asking for the revision and modification of seemingly arbitrary 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 his or her 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 then 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
X 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 the rules prepare young people for the working world. This 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?

At some point we must realise that some rules just don’t serve us anymore, 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, and there was barely any consultation/integration of parents and students. This is especially important because several researchers have indicated that when students are engaged in establishing rules there is a higher level of compliance. This is usually because they can see the rationale for the rule. After all, they were engaged.

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

johnsonjaemar@gmail.com