Blame the schools it's easy!

A recent Home Office report concluded that weak discipline at school is partly to blame for half of young people turning to crime. A study of young people over four years aged between 10 and 25 found that 49% had committed at least one offence, including robbery and burglary. Children as young as 11 admitted taking class A drugs.

A failure to deal resolutely with the trouble makers while at school was held to be a major factor. A lack of discipline is a major problem, especially in alienating young people from education. According to a survey of members of the NASUWT union 50 minutes of teaching time are lost on average every day because of bad behaviour.

Part of the problem is the government and local authorities, who require suspended students to be reinserted in school in school in a matter of days, with no "treatment" while they were away. There are no sanctions, and staff suffer regular abuse and violence.

The report does also admit that home conditions are important in determining the process to crime. Single parent families or families with a step parents present are more likely to push a child into crime or drugs.

The problem of discipline begins long before a child is at school, and the problem will only be solved when it is solved here. The government has made one or two half-hearted attempts, so they seem to recognise the problem.