Dizzi-you took the words right out of my mouth and saved me the time and trouble of typing them
When I read the title for this I was working out what Id put when I read your post and part way through ,just knew you had been a teacher.
I, too, took early retirement from teaching,as more and more of my time was spent being verbally abused my parents who were telling me that THEIR CHILD could not possibly have done what I had seen him do with my own eyes.Needless to say the child came in with the biggest smirk on his face and an even bigger attitude the next day.
I had a child threaten"If you lay a finger on me my mum will sue you".This was 1996 and the children Im talking about were only 7.!!!!!!I could write a book my experiences and those of my fellow teachers.
Steve-must dis agree with your comment that teachers should "get a grip and grow a pair".How do you think they could do that? Dont you think they would like to be able to do more?Their hands are tied in many many ways-they are not allowed to place a hand on a child- even to separate 2 kids who are half killing one another in the playground,they cant even put a kind arm round a child who is upset,as they may be accused of inappropriate touching.How do they punish bad behaviour-verbal telling off,send to the head,as Dizzy said to come back with a sticker,send the child out of the class?-in which case he/she has to be supervised- by who?How do they deal with parents who themselves are aggressive and dis-respectful?Many people would say-well thats your job-they obviously have never been in our shoes for a day.The year I left I remember the Reception teacher who had taught there for a long time telling me she was struggling with her class of 5 yr olds ,many of whom in the playground thought it was O.K to thump each other and if to tell each other to F*** off-when she told them that wasnt a word they should be using they replied that thats what their mum and dad said at home
i agree with what everyone else has written about causes on Anti Social behaviour-
lack of discipline in the home
general lack of respect in society towards other people
lack of good role models-often the role models now are often rich ,famous and untalented .
.
The fact that we can no longer rely on the Police to stop the yobs- the programmes which show vulnerable people being terrorised in their own homes, by kids as young as 5,who then laugh at the police IF the Police turn up ,make my blood boil.
I feel sorry for the many children of today whose parents have brought them up to be respectful and hard working .We hear so little about these children because all our time and resources is given to those who think an A.S.B.O. is something to be proud of. Maureen

Ollies Mum I totally agree. I worked in a school for a while and the good children were always overlooked, the naughty ones got the attention, the praise and the rewards for being good for 5 mins, the good ones got nothing for being good all of the time.
If this world does not wake up soon and take back control and start teaching respect and giving proper consequences the violence towards others is going to escalate so badly in years to come there will be nowhere safe for anyone anymore.

Great to get some opinions and thoughts,

Some excellent posts,that I agree with,

We had a lengthy chat with the WPC who came here after my car was targeted and repeatedly damaged and mentioned the lad who assaulted Luke in May last year.
She said she could see exactly what he was going to turn into at 8/9 years old,apparently his mother died and his father who was clearly struggling refused outside help from other agencies,this lad is the same age as Luke and has criminal convictions,was permantly excluded from school,got thrown out of college and is always causing alot of trouble at the top of town and in my opinion the courts are not firm enough with these sort of youngsters.

Aaah what I heard one head term the "always children" -always ready to listen, always doing the right thing... and your heart starts to ache for them.

It's funny - on supply you can normally tell who's going to be the nightmare to deal with when you walk into a classroom at 8am by looking at the merit points/star chart... they're the one with twice the number of anyone else. Sometimes that stuff works - and the principle is sound - but more often than not it ends up becoming a mutual bribary tool "write the date and you can have a team point"... "I DID MY EFFING WORK - WHERE'S MY EFFING STICKER!!!"

I was a nightmare at primary school - I was very very intelligent (not me bragging - was what I was IQ tested at by an ed psych), and I was, basically bored out of my skull. However because the school were strict, and because my mother would back the school totally - I didn't run riot... these days I would do - and I would probably be given excuses to do so as a kid from a home that wasn't so much broken but was completely shattering around me with a horrific divorce that I was being used as an emotional stick to beat each party around the head with. I'd have been allowed to get away with the nonsense I would like to have been able to pull and I'd have gone off the rails completely.

I think you are right, kids need an interest, my son coming up 13 has been waiting for years to join the Air Cadets, he joined a couple of months ago and really enjoys it. The problem is he gets the pee taken out of him by the chavvy kids, i tell him to ignore it, after all they won't be the ones going to camps in the summer and going in planes etc etc. And the discipline is good for them too.

Hi Sal, I had a feeling that your OP would get a lot of replies. Like you I agree with so much, especially what Dizzi has written.

Surely that boys father is a bad father So he's struggling after his wifes death but when you're drowning surely you reach out for anything to help you stay afloat Why would he refuse help I just don't get it and if the father won't discipline the boy, and won't ask for help, it has to be the court who administers a short sharp shock who else is there

I hope there's not been any more problems with him and Luke.

Excellent posts

Clive and I were talking about this again this morning, we were watching tv and a young girl had been horrifically injured by a yob throwing a brick at the car she was travelling in, he got some ridiculous fine of about £200..thats all, her skull was fractured, her eye socket broken..poor thing, she was doing no wrong.

I think Clive should stand for parliament really as he has such strong views, and I'm sure it would make criminals and yobs sit up and listen. We're all for National Service too, even as far as Daniel is concerned, he is coming up 11 and wants everything handed to him on a plate but doesn't want to work for it. He lies to me about things, even things he knows I will find out about, Clive does his best but he isn't the full time parent so is limited. I have a feeling that Daniel make take a wrong turn at some stage if we aren't on his case.

Clive thinks that all those languishing in prison should be made to work out on the roads each day, filling in the pot holes, in chain gangs...never mind their human rights, they gave them up when they violated someone or something which resulted in them being in prison in the first place. If the youths of today saw that they would get some sort of penalty when they did something wrong, instead of a little talking to by the local PCSO, then maybe they would be too scared to victimise people and vandalise places.

Some of Clives work is for the authorities and I'm not allowed to elaborate, suffice to say though, arrested persons get a hot drink, a cooked meal and a centrally heated cell before they are processed...a lot of old people don't get treated as well as those that have committed crimes do

Exactly,
No more issue's with this lad and hopefully there won't be anymore

I haven't had an easy time with my kids,but they have been disaplined and set clear rules and boundries.
We had a rough time with Tom two years ago when he made the switch from primary to high school and he found it really hard to adjust,but I worked with the school,and took advantage of the support offered and we also got his statement of SEN changed to include behaviour, and anger management.He also attends several sports clubs and social skills classes etc at dinnerbreak,this works well and helps release some of his frustrations.
Yes we still have bad days with him but he knows and has always known that his statement is no excuse for poor behaviour and it will not be tolerated by school or by us as his parents.
He went through a stage of buying rubbish,junk food and fizzy pop on the way to school,I was made aware of this by his TA who caught him with the fizzy pop, and I immediately asked them to take it off him and if they see him with anymore confiscate that too,I don't allow them to have junk to take to school and the rubbish they eat I limit,as I have found that his behaviour detoriates.

I have a stash of junk hidden away and instead of asking for that they often ask for fruit which is always available in the fruit bowl

I don't allow them to walk the streets,have had the protests but dealt with them.

I sometimes look at our neighbours kids and wonder,I feel so sorry for them at times and you can see even now and they are only 9 yrs what they will become,they are allowed to do what they want when they want,including smashing there own house to bits,wrecking there own vehicle,climbing all over it and jumping off the roof,etc.
There mother saw them doing it yet never said a word and let them carry on

,

Parenting. It's got to be...

Then the failures of the British Judicial system.

Makes you sick doesn't it!
The lad that assaulted Luke didn't turn up for the first court hearing, the court had to issue a warrent for his arrest

He had two charges of ABH and a charge of criminal damage,he got a 9 month refferal order and was ordered to pay compensation of £50 to Luke

He pays in installments that should be £5 per month but the last two have been £1.71 per month
He brags on the social networking site how much trouble he has been in,how many people he has punched and been fighting with,how plastered he is going to get or has been over the weekends and how much waccy baccy he has for sale or to smoke
I see the order from the courts is working well,in my eyes he is just taking the micky out of the justice system and to those who fall victim to his crimes.