I've definitely heard the "do not use passive voice", I think mostly in college. The reason was, when doing a paper, you want to use active voice. It makes more of an impact to the reader. Sort of like using "You must" or "Next, do" instead of "You should" when writing instructions.
However, it really does depend on writing. When you're trying to get a point across, use active. when it's fiction, passive is fine.
And let's see... where did I hear it. Definitely in college in North Carolina. Pretty sure I heard it in college in Pennsylvania. And maybe in high school in PA, as well? I forget.
