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Dress codes are one of the things that most students at school hate, but it is even worse when the rules are outdated.

What would you do if your school’s dress code hadn’t been updated in decades, but it was still strictly enforced even though everyone hated it?

That was the situation at the school in this story, so one student decided to learn every aspect of the code and started to follow it to the letter. While he looked silly for a while, it eventually helped prompt the school to make some updates.

This is a great example of how following the rules can sometimes get them changed. Read through the full story here, and see what you think.

Changed a school dress code by following it

In all honesty, I loved my math teacher when I was 15.

But she was a horrendous stickler for the uniform.

Everyday we would line up in front of the door to the classroom and at the precise moment class was supposed to start, she would open the door and inspect our uniforms as we walked in.

As with every school uniform, it was atrocious. It hadn’t been updated in 35 years, so as guys we were wearing knee high socks, high waisted shorts that fell above the knees and a polo.

Kids love to rebel.

I got tired of this charade pretty quickly.

I have no time for reverence of things that don’t deserve to be revered.

So, I very quickly started tucking my shirt in, pulling my shorts up as far as they would go and bringing a comb to comb over my hair.

Learning the specific wording of the rules can be very helpful.

She hated it.

She routinely excluded people from class because they weren’t following the dress code, but didn’t know what do with me.

So, I took it further.

Bought some suspenders for my shorts which weren’t explicitly mentioned in the dress code, so they got in to class.

Now he is getting creative.

Suspenders for my socks, also not mentioned.

The school code did explicitly mention that Yellow Slickers (the rain gear you think of fish mongers wearing in torrential rain) were ok.

So, I scoured the local op shops for probably 2 months for the most obnoxious gear I could find.

If this is the worst a kid is doing in school, there is nothing to worry about.

I turned up in full gear, pants jacket and hat, in the middle of the brightest day of summer looking like Big Bird from sesame street.

By this time I had quoted the dress code to her so many times she had a copy printed in her desk, but she didn’t need to reference it to know that I had taken it as far as I possibly could.

She let me in to class looking like an idiot for the next week.

She was my teacher sponsor when I took a motion to the school board that the uniform should change.

Sometimes a little malicious compliance can help to get outdated things updated. Nobody was harmed by this and it worked out well for everyone.

Let’s see what the people in the comments on Reddit think of this story.

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Wow, this is why schools should have dress codes.

I’m sure the school didn’t mind this.

Rules are only rules if they are enforced.

This commenter says that the teacher may have wanted this, too.

I was wondering this as well.

Following the rules is sometimes the best way to get them changed. The school had no reason to update the dress code for years, but once this kid started his little campaign, they had to act.

School dress codes can be a great thing, but they do need to be updated from time to time.

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Author

Michael Levanduski