[West Ender]

It all comes down to discipline, in my opinion. My generation was brought up disciplined. You had no choice but to behave at school, or in the streets, otherwise you were punished. The cane in schools, well God Forbid, but it worked, you didn't have kids going into school armed with knives etc., and of course most of the young men had the discipline of National Service.

I had my 2 older children in the 60s, my 3rd in 1975. There was beginning to be a change of approach in child-rearing at the time. Parents were told that children must have freedom to "express themselves" and discipline, for its own sake, was outmoded and unnecessary. I'm afraid I didn't follow the "new" thinking.

We only have to look at the parents of today who were born and brought up in that era, which combined with the new approach to education - don't make them sit down and learn, let them "discover themselves" - and we see the results.

A return to discipline in schools is good but the schools will have an uphill battle against a generation of parents who consider themselves and their children untouchable. Far too little, far too late.