IELTS Speaking – a rule that you did not agree with

Yes, quite a lot. We had to wear a uniform every day, stand up whenever a teacher entered the room and keep our hair a certain length. Some of the rules felt a bit old-fashioned, but looking back, they did help create an orderly atmosphere, especially with forty-five students in one class.

Mostly, yes. I'm the kind of person who waits at a red light even when the road is empty. That said, I don't follow rules blindly. If a rule seems pointless or unfair, I'll question it, politely of course, but I'd rather understand the reason behind it than just obey.

The main one was that homework had to be finished before I could watch TV or go out to play. I also had to be home before dark and eat dinner with the whole family, no excuses. At the time I found it strict, but now I really appreciate that routine of eating together.

Yes, our team has a rule that nobody sends work messages after eight in the evening unless it's a genuine emergency. It sounds simple, but it's made a huge difference to everyone's stress levels. People switch off properly at night and come back the next morning feeling fresher and more productive.

I'd like to talk about a rule at my high school that banned students from bringing phones onto the school grounds at all, not even switched off in their bags. It applied to every student from the first day of term, and any phone a teacher found was confiscated until a parent collected it in person. I understood the intention behind it. The school wanted to stop students from playing games in class and to reduce cyberbullying, which are reasonable goals. But I thought the rule went too far. Many of us travelled long distances by bus, and without a phone we couldn't let our parents know if we were delayed or if something went wrong. A friend of mine once got stuck in heavy rain and had no way of contacting her family, who were extremely worried. To me, a rule that only allowed phones to be used at the gate, or stored in lockers during lessons, would have been much more sensible. In the end, a group of us, together with some parents, wrote a polite letter to the head teacher explaining our concerns. To my surprise, the school actually listened. The following year they introduced lockers and allowed phones before and after classes. It taught me that if you disagree with a rule, raising it calmly and with good reasons can genuinely change things.

There are several reasons. Sometimes people simply believe they won't get caught, especially if the rule is rarely enforced, like speeding on an empty road. Others are under pressure, for instance, someone running late might park illegally because missing a meeting seems worse than a fine. And some people break rules deliberately because they think the rule is unfair, so it becomes a form of protest. Peer pressure plays a big role among teenagers, too.

I think it can be, but only in rare and serious cases. History shows that some laws, such as those that denied certain groups the right to vote, were only changed because people peacefully refused to obey them. However, if everyone ignored laws they personally disliked, society would quickly fall into chaos. So I'd say disobedience is only justified when the injustice is clear, the protest is non-violent, and legal ways of changing the law have already been tried.

To a certain degree, yes. When children help create rules, for example, deciding how much screen time is reasonable at home, they understand the reasons behind them and are much more likely to stick to them. It also teaches them about responsibility and negotiation. That said, adults should still have the final say on anything involving safety or health, because young children can't always judge long-term risks. It should be a conversation, not a democracy.

The evidence suggests they're less effective than many people assume. What really deters crime is the likelihood of getting caught rather than the severity of the punishment. If someone thinks they'll never be found out, even a harsh sentence won't stop them. Besides, many crimes are linked to poverty, addiction or lack of education, so tackling those root causes tends to work better in the long run than simply making prison sentences longer.