The Year RC Got Serious... About Everything
The 2025-2026 academic year at RC has started faster than ever, and with it, many of us have noticed some drastic changes in the school's policies. From phone restrictions to dress codes and class schedules, it seems as if almost every school policy has been stricter this year.
When the new phone policy was announced over the summer, a large portion of the student body had strong reactions ranging from curiosity to sarcastic comments. Many expressed their concerns about how it would negatively affect our daily lives at RC.
However, it seems as if Mr. Demirkapı believes otherwise. He calls today's students "technology nomads," explaining that we were born into a world of technology and can't imagine a life without it. He points out how with phones "many students hang out together without actually talking to each other."
To manage this, RC has updated its phone rules. Phones are to be kept in lockers or bags during class, and students may only use them during the 20-minute morning break and lunch break. Mr. Demirkapı states that the goal isn't to ban phones completely; it's just to make sure that they don't take over our lives completely.
Mr. Karakaya added that unlimited phone use can affect both mental and physical health. Spending long hours staring at a screen can hurt focus, time management and even social skills. Notifications and social media platforms are designed to grab our attention, which makes it hard to concentrate in some classes. He also notes that many prestigious educational institutions around the globe have implemented strict phone restrictions many years ago. It seems like RC is just a little late to the "phone-ban" trend!
This year, the rules are already showing results. Phone use in class has decreased, and even when students find ways around the rules, Mr. Karakaya says that cutting back, even a little, makes a noticeable difference, as it has resulted in a significant increase in the attention spans of students.
Another important change at RC this year was the schedule, most notably the removal of the 80-minute periods at the start of the day and the early end on Monday. Obviously, our first stop had to be Mr. Fırat's office.
Mr. Fırat told us that the change had been the result of a very common feedback the Academic Office received from students. The 80-minute classes were simply too long for some students to focus. However, he also highlighted that this issue was a double-edged sword. Some students now complain that the 5-minute breaks are too short to travel across the giant campus.
He also mentioned how school ending at 15.05 instead of 15.40 on Mondays has been beneficial for students: A 35-minute cut resulted in students saving up to an hour and a half on their way back home. He also highlighted the trade-offs this change brings, especially that students now need to attend a 20-minute advising session every week during a lunch break. He highlighted that the more students complained, the harder it would be for the school to work on its long-term goal of saving more time for students.
This year also marked one of the most drastic changes in the dress code. To investigate, we talked to two of the two dress code kings of RC: Mr. Demirkapı and Mr. Karakaya (The queen, Ms. Halıcıoğlu, was unfortunately not in her office).
One of the most prominent changes was the addition of a color scheme for students. The school administration had a Zoom meeting over the summer with the Student Council to go over this issue, and the Student Council created a color survey to be sent to students. For tops, the selected colors are: black, beige/white, burgundy, navy, and gray. For bottoms, there are four options: black, navy, gray, and beige. Mr. Demirkapı emphasized that while this rule usually limits the number of colors to one or two, the Robert College administration could pull off five colors – what a pull!
Mr. Karakaya also mentioned uniforms. Surprisingly, MEB also prohibits schools from selling definite school uniforms in collaboration with a company due to problems like corruption.
If you've walked around on campus this year, you've probably seen people with band-aids on their sweatshirts covering the small logos. No, this is not a hot new trend; it's dress code!
Although the rules about logos haven't changed on paper (logos have always been strictly prohibited), the general consensus from students is that teachers are much more sensitive to logos this year. Both emphasized how even a small logo was a big symbol of status, which was critical considering the socioeconomic diversity of RC students. Mr. Demirkapı did acknowledge that the rules regarding small logos used to be seen as more flexible in recent years.
Mr. Demirkapı also mentioned that, at least for this year, club sweatshirts were also allowed, giving the example of the pink sweatshirts of ARC#6014 as clubs showing off their flair.
