Make them wear bobble hats.

Hugh, London,

What am I more worried about? Being stabbed in the street by a crackhead 12 year old, being unable to afford to pay my mortgage or run my car or being hit by a flying university hat?

Luke, London, UK

This is absolutely ridiculous and typical of institutions fetishising regulation for the sake of feeling empowered and in control. The euphoric tossing of the mortarboard is a crucial part of graduation, a timeold tradition, and no beaurocratic morons should be allowed to do away with it. Tossers.

Michael, Cambridge,

The graduands have just hired the motarboards for the day - they are not their own property to be damaged. Its not as if they have worn them everyday and thus toss them in the air sudden liberation. And its probably a fake 'tradition' learned from the TV.

Ben, Preston,

And to be completely safe and totally eliminate any chance of injury, shouldn't they all be required to wear helmuts? Why take a chance?

JL Ronish, seattle , us

In my first year at Exeter, our Rag Week procession coincided with a torrential downpour; we had to get a special dispensation from the police to be allowed to carry umbrellas because "they could be classed as an offensive weapon". That was in 1972 - the Health & Safety rot was already setting in!

Gill, Southampton , UK

Reading about this nice habit and looking at some young happy faces in the picture i can only wish to be young again - and to have committed no sillier things before or at my graduation than just throwing my hat or cap into the skyes. A natural springtime thing when you do not need any hat any more!

Timm Sothmann, Tampere, Finland

Andreas that reminds me of when i tried to go into a nightclub last weekend and i had an ordinary ballpoint pen taken from me by the bouncer as it could be used "as a weapon or for transporting drugs"

Paul, Bristol,

should go to a proper university then......

James, Durham,

Ha Ha Ha....Like red flags to a Bull. !!

There will be more hats thrown in the air than normal.

Has anyone ever tried telling a graduatiing student what to do and actually received compliance in return ?

Didnt think so !

Dave, Lincoln,

I live next door to Anglia Ruskin students. Flying bottles are a bigger problem than flying mortar boards.

Gary, Cambridge,

Bristol university did something similar a few years back - I think they banned mortarboards altogether for the same reason.

Alonzo, Derby,

Is there a record of anyone actually being hurt?

B J Deller, Marbella, Spain

Hurray for the UK! This is simply ridiculous. There're laws for everything, is this ''freedom''?!? What's next? A public danger to carry pointy pens in our suitcases?

Has logic and brains abandoned this country all together and replaced with aburdness and countless irrational phobias?

Andreas Andreou, Nottingham,

Another insane example of "health and Safety". "one person in several years" has been injured(!) you have more chance of being hit by lightening during the graduation.

These people need to get back to reality. They obviously have too much time on their hands!

James, London,

Our species is doomed anyway..

Aden Brill, Hereford, UK

I'm graduating from Bristol in July and we're not even allowed to wear hats.

Elizabeth , Bristol,

Bristol students have not been allowed to wear mortarboards since male students threw their hats off the suspension bridge or at female students in protest at women being allowed to join the university.

Louise, bristol,

The way things are going it will be deemed unsafe to leave the house, use the bathroom even get out of bed. Our species is doomed..

Mark, London, UK