Analysis: Mentoring - When good parenting doesn't begin at home

Whose job is it to turn around the bad behaviour of young people?

According to David Hart, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, the buck most certainly should not stop with teachers.

In a speech to his union's national conference last week, Hart blamed a lack of parental role models for the poor behaviour of some pupils.

Blame the parents

"Too many parents collude with truancy and condemn their children to a pattern of crime," he said. "Teachers continue to be blamed unfairly for underachievement that is often home-based.

"School staff are not surrogate parents or social workers," continued Hart, adding that teachers should "not have to waste valuable teaching time" doing a job that should have been done before the child sets foot in the school.