Public school teachers have been barred from checking the color of students’ underwear in a shocking announcement.
Previously, public schools in Japan required the staff to keep a thorough check on what colored underwear the students wore. Moreover, authorities carried out an investigation into the matter where they found out that a total of 14 schools required their students to only wear white toned underwear to school.
Now, the controversial practice has been banned. The decision was announced by Saga Prefecture, on the Southern-west region of the Japanese island called Kyushu. Authorities explained how the change only came into play after they carried out the huge checks across various schools in the region.
In case you’re wondering how the checks actually took place, well, teachers would go as far as pulling down the bra straps of female students, while watching the teenagers undress in front of their very eyes, at the same time.
The entire incident would take place in changing rooms, making sure the students complied with the dress code put forward by the school’s governing body.
News on Japan reported how the underwear color rules will be banned forever, starting off from the second week of April. In the same way, the rules relating to the color of students’ socks will also cease to exist, the news agency confirmed.
The controversial rule dates back to years ago, going as far as the 1870s. But a closer look down memory lane showed how even stricter rules came into play during the period of 1970 to 1980. This was done in an effort to crackdown on incidents that related to bullying as well as school-related violence too. But despite the fact that school crimes fell, over the years, the rules stayed in place and failed to be abolished.
In other news, some elementary schools demand that pupils remove their undergarments, right before they change into gym clothes.
And that’s because authorities feel that sweaty undergarments are very unhygienic. Therefore, those who feel uncomfortable with the rule need to get approval from their teachers so they can wear undergarments with their gym attire.