Estelle Morris, the Government's education boss, said schools must be allowed to punish naughty and violent kids, because often parents aren't doing anything to stop them.
"Parents must set the right example," she said. "How can we expect pupils to respect teachers if their parents don't?"
Life of crime
There's been loads of stories lately about young children starting their own crime waves.
Two brothers, Ben and Robert White, nicknamed the 'terror teens', were named and shamed in court last week after they're thought to have taken part in more than 100 crimes in Weston-super-Mare.
The Government also hopes to get kids more involved in school activities, to stop them getting into a life of crime.
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