Teachers fed up with ill-mannered, undisciplined children Many teachers say parents are not disciplining their children at home. TEACHERS have delivered a wake up call to parents, saying too many expect them to provide all the discipline for their children. And they want students to show more respect. The blast is revealed in a Herald Sun survey of more than 860 educators statewide. Almost 80 per cent of respondents said parents expected teachers to provide all the discipline for their kids - a third strongly agreeing with the statement. HAVE YOUR SAY: Agree with the teachers? Join the debate with columnist Susie O'Brien or facebook.com/newswithsuse Teachers complained some mums and dads were failing to support their child's education at home and equip their children with social basics like manners. "Parents do not know how to discipline their own children (at) home and so you have to teach the parents how to be a parent to help their own child," one teacher said. Sadly you need a licence to drive, but not to breed! Others accused parents of abrogating their responsibilities, putting issues which should be dealt with at home on to schools. Teachers were being forced to "pick up the pieces as a result of poor parenting" and parents "mollycoddling their children." The Herald Sun's survey, conducted by Galaxy Research, gauged the opinions of educators across all sectors in December last year. About 60 per cent of respondents believed students didn't show enough respect for teachers. A third complained parents weren't supportive of teachers' authority in the classroom and decisions regarding their children. Almost all respondents believed teachers' workload was increasing year-on-year. Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said schools were increasingly expected to deal with social and community issues outside of education. "I think the expectations from our communities and sometimes from our politicians are simply too high on occasions," she said. Schools play a very important role but so do parents. It has to be a combined effort, a partnership if you like, between parents and their school. It shouldn't be left up to teachers alone. Kids spend more time with their families and their parents than they do at school and so parents should make sure that they are providing a good grounding in terms of discipline and values. Parents Victoria executive officer Gail McHardy said: "The majority of families reinforce and encourage respect by their children to their teacher but teachers need to set good examples, be fair and consistent too." Among other survey results, 28 per cent of teachers agreed most have a favourite student in their class. And almost a third back a plan to start the school year in March to avoid difficulties teaching in the heat of summer. Schools by the numbers.