Teachers are in a culture clash with parents who have “very weak boundaries” and object to the disciplining of their children, according to the government’s behaviour tsar.
Tom Bennett, the Department for Education’s ambassador for attendance and behaviour, said schools have had to become more disciplined, partly because so many parents rarely say no to their children.
He said a zero-tolerance approach to discipline was wrong, but schools need to ensure that pupils “respect the teacher and do the right thing the first time you’re asked” and have “a sense that you’ve got to be on time, bring your equipment and you cannot swear at [a teacher] or punch a kid”.