Follow the rules

I overheard two elderly teachers discussing how to deal with student issues in school. One teachers raised two issues - taking drugs and being raped. Should the teacher inform the parent? According to the school manual, these affect the privacy of the student. The teacher is not supposed to inform the parent. He said that the parent should be informed, but it is best to "follow the rules".

I dislike thus "follow the rules" mindset that is prevalent in Singapore. What if the rules are written wrongly? Do we follow them blindly?