The author of this piece believes that a few of these rules could be relaxed, or even eliminated before they're reimplemented, but I dunno ....

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Megan Fox, PJ Media: Those strict rules for teachers at the turn of the [last] century make more sense now

In 1915, teachers were required to sign a contract that included these rules of behavior:

  1. You will not marry during the term of your contract.

  2. You are not to keep company with men.

  3. You must be home between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless attending a school function.

  4. You may not loiter downtown in ice cream stores.

  5. You may not travel beyond the city limits unless you have the permission of the chairman of the board.

  6. You may not ride in a carriage or automobile with any man unless he is your father or brother.

  7. You may not smoke cigarettes.

  8. You may not dress in bright colours.

  9. You may under no circumstances dye your hair.

  10. You must wear at least two petticoats.

  11. Your dresses must not be any shorter than two inches above the ankle.

Sure, some of them seem over the top, like “no loitering at the ice cream shop.” But then again, who knows what kind of characters were hanging out there waiting for some naive teacher to seduce and ruin? Apparently, there was some kind of threat down by the root beer float shop that the board of education was seriously concerned about. But how on earth did we go from these buttoned-up rules for those educating our children to not regulating them at all, leading to this insanity?

We need rules of behavior back in schools. And we should start with the old ones and just update them for our modern era. Married teachers seem reasonable, but no one should be discussing their marriage or any personal issue with the students. I also like, “You may under no circumstances dye your hair.” That one could be updated to “you may under no circumstances dye your hair any color not found in natural human hair.” This would cut way back on the weirdos entering the profession. Teachers should not look like clowns. Nor should their faces look like pin cushions. I would add a “you may under no circumstances wear piercings on any part of your face.”

I say let’s bring them all back, and then see whether any of them are no longer needed.

And of course, what’s good for saucy gooses should also apply to those who would gander