LONDON, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- The British government wants to give teachers the right to discipline unruly schoolchildren outside the school gates, especially on trains and buses.
The new "right to discipline" would give teachers and support staff a clear legal right to restrain pupils with reasonable force and confiscate "inappropriate items" outside schools, the London Observer reported.
"A school's reputation can easily be lost through bad behavior on the buses," said John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders. "There is always a degree of uncertainty about the extent of power outside school and this will clarify that right."
Dunford said the new rules are much needed because parents are increasingly questioning the authority of teachers, and the limits on the right of teachers to punish children are unclear, the newspaper said.
