Parents are undermining school discipline, according to experts speaking at a Government hearing on behaviour in schools. They have said that parents need to support school rules about accepted behavior to improve classroom harmony.

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An average of 30 minutes teaching time per teacher per day is lost due to low level disruption like talking, refusing to sit down and undermining teachers. Former Ofsted inspector David Moore claims this is because children copy the behavior of adults. “Adults have to model behaviours that they want, because otherwise how does the child learn?” said David.

The hearing has also led to calls for an understanding between parents and schools to be reached about what is acceptable behaviour.

“The classic thing is that a child hits another child in the playground and the child who has been hit goes home and the parents says: ‘Well just hit him back next time’. That will not be, for the most part, the discipline and behaviour policy that operates in school,” explained Christine Blower, from the National Union of Teachers.

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Is it the parents’ or schools’ responsibility to discipline our children? Let us know what you think!

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