SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 2

A report by the Institute of Education said children should not be told off by teachers because it may make them feel bad. The report also said pupils should be allowed to chat in lessons rather than sitting quietly and paying attention. Findings from the research of nine and ten-year-olds came as the government moved to curb troublemakers.

Dr Tamara Bibby, who led the two-year University of London project, said, “Making children sit quietly and look at the teacher may be counter-productive. Talking to each other is one way children learn. Criticism by a teacher can raise feelings of anxiety about not being liked and therefore interfere with learning.” (Source: The Sun, Sep/07)

The Association of School and College Leaders condemned the BBC school drama 'Waterloo Road' as being oversexed, unrealistic and a threat to discipline. They said the programme painted an "exaggerated" picture of appalling behaviour and "unprofessional" teachers. Brian Lightman, a head in Penarth, Glamorgan, asked Schools Minister Jacqui Smith to persuade TV companies to portray schools more fairly saying he feared children "would think this behaviour is acceptable or the norm". She replied, "Well-run schools where pupils are working hard, where all the staff work as a team, don't make good telly." (Source: Daily Mirror, Mar/06)

The prime minister is suggesting parents should be forced to give up work to supervise their children if they are suspended from school. He thinks there is no point excluding for bad behaviour if the youngsters simply go and cause trouble in local shopping centres and is asking the newly-formed behaviour task force of head teachers to consider how to tackle this problem. The taskforce was formed under the chairmanship of Sir Alan Steer, head of Seven Kings High School in Ilford, Essex. It was asked to advise on "strategies to ensure effective school discipline, improve parental responsibility for their children's behaviour and deliver a culture of respect in all schools".

Education Secretary Ruth Kelly said some parents needed to be forced to take their responsibilities seriously. "It might be that the head and the local authority think that family and that parent needs particular support perhaps in managing the behaviour of their children and that they're having difficulty in the home as well as at school, because often the two things are linked," she said. "Now in that situation, of course we'd be prepared to help and that's what parenting contracts are for and parenting classes. But there are other cases where parents just don't take their responsibilities seriously where quite honestly we're just not prepared to stand by and see that happen."

Education solicitor Julia Thomas of The Children's Legal Centre charity, said, "It's all very well saying parents should be taking time off work, I'm not sure their employers would be too delighted about that. If the parents lost their jobs and were forced onto benefits, it was hard to see what was being gained." The general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, John Dunford, said, "Pupils are disruptive in schools for many different reasons and one of the reasons can be the problems they are experiencing at home, and we certainly don't want to make those more difficult." (Source: BBC News)

Teachers have demanded CCTV, metal detectors and warning signs in schools to stop violence from pupils armed with air guns and knives. One science teacher described how he and his wife have been besieged by gangs of pupils at home for the past year, while his young step-daughter had a brick thrown through her window. Teachers' union NASUWT called for signs to be placed in school entrances warning parents and pupils that they will face police action if they abuse or attack staff. Delegates at the union's annual conference in Brighton voted in favour of a motion calling for tighter security in school grounds. But the conference heard that thugs who were thrown out of school would simply turn their violence on teachers' homes.

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