Behave, or your parents will go to prison

When pupils are punished for bad behaviour, they only have themselves to blame, right? Not according to the British government. Ministers now think that parents should be made responsible for their children in school too. According to new plans, parents who aren't making enough effort to stop their kids misbehaving in school will be taken to court.

"There are a small group of parents who just don't take their children's behaviour seriously at all," the Children's Secretary Ed Balls told The Guardian newspaper. "Some parents think tough discipline is a good idea. But when it's their child they think teachers are just picking on them."

At the moment, parents of pupils who cause trouble at school have to sign an agreement promising that their son or daughter's behaviour will get better. But up to now, these agreements were not legally binding. Now, breaking the agreement could lead to the parents paying a fine of 1,000 pounds, doing community service, or even going to prison!