Top Five School Trends Teachers Tried (And Failed) To Ban

School wasn’t just about lessons and exams — it was also the battleground of fads. Every few months, a new craze would sweep the playground, spreading faster than headlice, and teachers would inevitably try (and fail) to stamp it out. Of course, the more they banned it, the more we loved it.

Here are five unforgettable school trends that defied the rules and lived on in legend:

5. Yo-Yos

The trend: Every kid suddenly became convinced they were destined for yo-yo championship glory. Tricks like “Walk the Dog” and “Around the World” turned classrooms into danger zones.

Why teachers banned them: Too many near-miss black eyes, broken windows, and tangled strings in hair.

Why it didn’t work: Every ban just made kids sneak them back in — and the cool kids had glow-in-the-dark or Coca-Cola branded yo-yos that had to be shown off.

4. Slap Bracelets

The trend: Metal strips wrapped in colourful plastic that snapped satisfyingly around your wrist when you slapped them.

Why teachers banned them: Because after about two weeks, the plastic coating peeled off, leaving sharp bits of metal that turned fashion accessories into health hazards.

Why it didn’t work: Kids just kept swapping them under desks or hiding them up their sleeves. Bruised wrists were a badge of honour.

3. Pogs

The trend: Collectible cardboard discs that you stacked and smashed with “slammers”. Entire playground economies were built around trading them.

Why teachers banned them: Fights broke out when someone lost their prized holographic pog, and suddenly the playground looked like a tiny Las Vegas casino.

Why it didn’t work: Kids carried on playing in secret, using lunch trays as makeshift arenas. Plus, pog folders were just too satisfying to abandon.

2. Tamagotchis

The trend: Digital pets that beeped relentlessly until you fed, cleaned, or played with them.

Why teachers banned them: Because classrooms turned into pet cemeteries. Constant beeping disrupted lessons, and more than one teacher ended up confiscating a Tamagotchi mid-emergency-poo situation.

Why it didn’t work: Kids hid them in pencil cases or got friends to babysit them during lessons. Playground mourning rituals for dead Tamagotchis became a thing.

1. Pokemon Cards

The trend: Swapping, trading, and battling cards became an obsession in the late ’90s. Charizard was playground royalty.

Why teachers banned them: Arguments, dodgy trades (“I’ll give you ten Weedles for that shiny Mewtwo”), and full-on fights. Some kids even started black-market tuck shop deals with rare cards.

Why it didn’t work: You couldn’t stop the Pokémania juggernaut. Banning them just made the cards more legendary.