Rules and Exceptions
by Tatiana Velitchkov © 2009
 

Rules are the guiding principles which prevent one from doing wrong. What if there were no rules? Everyone would be free to do what he or she felt like and there is no doubt that society would be rotten. Crime would be like the wind which blows everywhere and about. There is no institution or organization without rules that create a streamlined system. Contrary to this concept, you will find some exceptions to the rules but then rules are made by man and he can alter them to suit his purpose as he wishes.

Mason Cooley, an aphorist in the United States once said that the mind demands rules but facts demand exceptions. Statutory as well as regulatory bodies express their views through rules and exceptions. In certain occasions, the exceptions are too detailed such that it inhibits the rule from being effective as intended. Other exceptions tend to favor a special group leaving the other group with no option. This is mostly applicable to makers of the rules who will exclude the impact of rules from their life’s operation.

Common sense rules are contradicted by exceptions which are unknown and unexpected by a large number of people. There are grammar rules for instance which facilitate the learning of students although most of these rules have exceptions. Depending on the understanding level of a child, a teacher may decide to; not teach the students about rules and exceptions, teach rules and ignore the exceptions, teach both the rules and the exceptions at the same time, teach rules first and then the exceptions or he, or she can decide to give students the assignment of making their own rules and regulations. Despite the fact that grammar rules and exceptions co-exist, the most important thing is make sure that the students understand language patterns.

Rules and exceptions can be pretty confusing especially when there is no clear explanation for the exceptions. An instance is the spelling rules and exceptions where you find that certain words are added certain letters when changing from one form to another and unless the exceptions are well understood, you may find yourself confusing the spelling of a word especially when it’s changing structure, for instance from the present to the past.

The case of the IRA retirement benefit scheme has it as a rule that no one should withdraw his or her retirement savings unless they had reached the recommended age. An exception to this rule may arise especially in a case of emergency resulting to harsh penalty charges.