adminKelvin Chiringa Cool Lifestyle Writer
It is time to leave the comfortable environs of home to confront the school premises with its regulations. After all, the summer holidays are over. Being in a formal school means one has to do away with that fancy holiday hair- do, scrap off that glossy nail polish and the mohawks have to be shaven off.
Amidst all these goings on perhaps the critical questions is, are some of these school regulations worth it? “Of course, some of these rules are petty and not really that serious but they remain fundamental to preparing us for the future to be professional.
“Basically the rules are there to test our obedience, and this is necessary in the work environment since it would be easy for us to adhere to regulations of any sort,” said CCOSA’s Upper Six Arts student Mercy Chaukura.
Part of the regulations include punctuality, maintaining certain levels of quietness on the school premises and strictly walking on designated aisles. How does this help the students to reach their ultimate goal which is to pass?
“Although the major goal of schooling is passing your final exams and going to the next level it does not take studying only to reach such a pinnacle.
“It takes individuals with a cultural refinement, students with the ability to display the right attitude to stipulated rules. If you follow them, the trick is it becomes easy to listen and adhere to whatever you are taught,” explained Kevin Chinengwere (19).
Far from being repressive, Roosevelt Girls High’s Lewelyne Chida (19) said the regulations are designed to cultivate discipline in students, a fundamental virtue of excellence even after school.
“I do not buy the notion that the school regulations are repressive since their major purpose is not to imprison us, but to instil discipline.
“If in kombis we find stickers prohibiting littering and smoking why can’t we have the same rules in schools?,” queried the Upper Six Arts student.
National Education College Lower Six student, Jay-Jay Moyo (16) said the rules are a form of civilization. “These rules in actual fact change behaviour and make you a better person, turning boys and girls into fine ladies and gentlemen. Besides building the person, they go an extra mile in instilling order and sanity to the school in the process of building a better brand,” said Jay-Jay.
Some students said that rules stop them from exploring their individual identity and need to be relaxed.
“My idea of going to school is to pass my grades and be a better person. At the same time the school should allow me the priviledge to be able to express my identity. The way I wear my hair and make-up has no effect to my grades but rather helps me in boosting my confidence,” said Ropafadzo Chikoka (17).
“You find students being prohibited from wearing lip gloss or keeping long hair even though it is well kempt. This happens in formal schools yet some of the colleges allow it and pupils still pass and their brands remain positive. It is time some of these out dated petty rules got repelled,” said Rosemary Mereki (19).
So while rules are necessary perhaps it is time that some of them are reviewed and updated to match the current generation of scholars. After all they were made for people who are old now.
◆ The writer is a journalism student at CCOSA
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