Late last week, reports began to circulate that a Catholic school in New Jersey had begun to support a rule that would prohibit girls from cursing while allowing boys to continue the act.

The school in question, Queen of Peace High School in North Arlington, and their rule change has gained national media attention for allowing males to swear for seemingly no reason.

The act was viewed as “abusing authority” with an “inevitability to fail,” Rachel Hymes, 19, English major from Philadelphia said.

Hymes went on to argue that, “Cursing is too widespread (for something like this to work).”

Critics also touched upon the social implications of the regulation. The rule is “sexist” and “(this scenario is) unfair for people in our generation,” Melinda Large, 19, business administration major from Yardley said. “What happened to equal rights?” she asked.

Yet the rule was voluntary and 20 to 30 boys and girls at QPHS had taken the pledge, said Vice Principal Charles Syby after being contacted by the Centurion.

“The pledge was done in the spirit of our high school’s ‘Spirit Week’ that we have every year, as well as Catholic Schools’ Week,” Syby said. “We were also anticipating the upcoming season of Lent and so one of our female faculty members, Mrs. Lori Flynn, came up with the idea of ‘let’s have our ladies act like ladies,’” he said.

Yet, some argued that the motivation behind the rule was misguided.

“What is a lady? Being successful? There are no guidelines as to what a lady is,” Ember Baker, 20, computer science major from State College said.

When it was revealed to Bucks students that the pledge was voluntary, many became complacent and gave less radical responses.

“(It is acceptable) if optional, but still shouldn’t happen. Private schools are supposed to have higher standards,” Evan Hartwell, 19, sports management major from Doylestown said.

Other students pointed to the fact that the school is a private institution to justify the apparent rule.

“(The rule/pledge is) unfair if applied only to girls, however, it is different because it is a Catholic school and the students are paying tuition to go there. If the rule is optional, then it is completely fair and makes sense,” Mike Girton, 19, criminal justice major from Levittown said.

Although it would be difficult to employ such a rule at the college level, students have voiced their opinions on the subject.

“An outrage would happen if something like that happened here,” Nick Timms, 19, music major from Bensalem said while expressing his distaste for the suggested pledge.

“(The rule) creates a double standard and increases hostility between genders and (the) school district,” Pat Kelly, an 11th grader from Pennsbury said when questioned about a reaction if a similar rule were instituted inside the district.

It remains evident that the media may have initially misrepresented this story, claiming that a new rule was put in place, when it was really more of a suggested idea to help along the school’s spirit week.

Either way, the majority of students questioned favored having the freedom to express themselves anyway they saw fit.