ABSTRACT
Rules are guidelines and expectations about how all the members of the school community should conduct themselves. There are school-wide rules, classroom rules, subject-based rules and, for some students, individual rules. A school charter, classroom behaviour policy or behaviour guidelines are just some of the ways in which these rules are presented. Most students can happily survive within the basic framework that school rules provide. There is, however, a significant minority of students who see rules as being the test bed for their behaviour. They justify their behaviour by saying that 'Rules are there to be broken'. This group see rules as indicators to demonstrate how far adults can be pushed and, in some cases, uses them as the starting point for negotiation, aggravation and pressure. The clearer the rule, the less opportunity there is to challenge or question what is meant by the wording.
