Parents should be punished for disruption by pupils, teachers say

Teachers say that violent and abusive parents have created a generation of children whobelieve shouting and swearing is normal behaviour. At the other end of the spectrum, children of over-indulgent parents arrive at school never having been denied anything and are unable to adapt to school.

The drive by Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State for Education, to give parents more power in the running of schools has only made it more difficult for schools to deal with the most disruptive parents, according to Ann Nuckley, a school administrative manager who proposed the motion at the annual conference of the Professional Association of Teachers yesterday.

Ms Nuckley, from Bacon's College in Southwark, south London, told the conference in Buxton, Derbyshire, that a minority of parents behaved so badly they had had to be escorted off school premises. "Some youngsters shout, swear, and use an aggressive tone but that is what they perceive to be normal behaviour. That becomes obvious when parents are invited in to talk about the problems and can't control their own behaviour to the extent that, on occasions, they have to be escorted off school premises.".

She added: "Poor parenting also fosters a lack of respect and no manners. No wonder that having no guidelines, children enter education with limited knowledge about appropriate behaviour."