School Rules in 2026 That Would Confuse Every Kid From The ’90s

Way back in the day, when I was a kid growing up in Wellington, specifically at Wellington Middle School, things were pretty simple. We knew the rules because they were enforced. But back in the day, the rules were different. No hats, no sunglasses, no talking back to the teacher, and so on.

Fast forward to 2026 and just look at what teachers have to enforce now. Technology has come a long way, and that has made things much harder.

Let's take a look at the rules that used to be and the rules that are in 2026.

Rules in the 90s

• No gum. This one is wild to me because gum is gum, and it doesn't seem to be a huge deal nowadays. But having kids myself, I get it. Teachers don't want to scrape old gum from under the desks.
• No pagers or beepers. The fact that 99% of kids today have no idea what a beeper is is shocking to me.
• No Discman's or Walkman's. Back before phones did everything, including storing music, people carried bricks around. It was a pain, but the nostalgia is so delicious. If you had a Walkman and a UB40 cassette tape, life was good.
• No passing notes. This was how teenagers communicated in the 90s.

Rules in 2026

• No guns. That escalated quickly.
• No using AI for answers, which is incredibly hard to enforce.
• No vaping. I've heard this is a big one. So much so that some schools have teachers stand by the bathroom door. Because teachers aren't busy enough.
• Cyberbullying is a big deal in 2026. When I was a kid, if I had a bully, once the weekend or summer came, you were in the clear. Now it's relentless with today's technology. Sadly, there is no reprieve for today's kids, and that makes me sad.

These are just a few examples of what teachers have to deal with in 2026, and wow, they all deserve a raise.