I think it is unfortunate if children with behavioural problems are all lumped together, and classed as coming from homes where discipline is not a priority, or that these children behave as they do because they are aware of their human rights, or that their parents simply expect the school to put up with their children whilst they are on the school premises. My youngest DS had severe behavioural problems in his first year at school. As a family we have strong views on manners, and we expect appropriate behaviour from our children. To hear that our DS2 repeatedly attempted to leave the school premises, whether by climbing over the wall, trying to push past staff members or attempting to hide from staff was absolutely devastating to us. We were concerned about our son, but also concerned about the effect that his behaviour had on the other pupils. My DS and I were totally supportive of any ideas that the school wished to implement to enable him to cope with the school routines and feel confident in his surroundings. We were dismayed to find that the school quickly ran out of ideas however. It transpired that our son had severe food allergies, coupled with profound dyslexia. None of the medical staff involved with our son ever thought that food allergies were a possibility. None of the school staff, LEA, behaviour support teachers etc ever thought that dyslexia was a possibility. The combination of the two issues made our son a very scared, angry and unhappy little boy. My DH and I were made to feel responsible for his behaviour when he was in school, although I was not allowed in the class to observe him in order to help with any strategies. The village we lived in behaved in a way that has left me shocked to this day - they gossiped about our son, and some of the stories that were made up about him were astounding. I dreaded waiting at the school gate, as Mothers would hand out party invitations to every child except my son. One even told him that he was not allowed to play with her son as he was a "naughty, nasty child, and your Mummy should smack you bottom" - my son was four years old at the time. I was stunned by the way a group of supposedly intelligent people were happy to bitch and gossip about a four year old child, and make up stories that made him sound like the spawn of the devil! Anyway, the basis of what I wanted to say was that poor behaviour sometimes (NOT always, but sometimes) is a symptom of a child who is struggling. In our case, our son was struggling though a lack of support for his specific learning difficulty - dyslexia. The state school system does not provide an appropriate education for dyslexic children. A learning environment that teaches for tests, has little or no time for children to ask questions, and insists on Phonics or nothing as a way of teaching the basics of literacy, is not an appropriate environment for children with literacy difficulties IMO. My son is now on a restricted diet, and is a happy, calm, friendly and biddable child. As a result, the LEA took away his 10 hours a week with a classroom assistant, because he now sits quietly. Does this help his dyslexia though? I just wanted to say that before assuming that disruptive or badly behaved children are little thugs that need corporal punishment, please take a moment to think that they may be a child who is stuck in an environment that they cannot cope with for over 30 hours a week - I don't know many adults that would be able to handle that. Corporal punishment would not have sorted my son's difficulties. It might have made him sit still and be more quiet - is that all we want for a school child though? This issue is much more complex than getting all the pupils to shut up, keep still and listen.