THE EDITOR, Sir:

I have been noticing recently that there are frequent incidents between students and teachers at school. Times have really changed. In days gone by when a student was being punished, he would have to 'humble himself'. Nowadays, when teachers instil discipline, parents come to the school and physically abuse teachers.

Some parents have never been back to school since the day they registered their child - unless there was a conflict.

I think students should be punished when they show indiscipline. The Government should not even think about punishing teachers because there are really some bad students who have to be dealt with on a daily basis. Some go as far as making comments like "Lick mi if yuh bad nuh" or "Mi a bad man" to the teachers. Even the girls are like this. I thinkt the root of the problem is a lack of parental guidance. Children are having children and those 'parent-children' have not been given proper guidance counselling, so what kind of children do you think they will produce?

If parents are not doing what they are supposed to do then I don't think teachers should face the dirty end of the stick. I think that with the changing times, guidance counselling should start from the age 10. Children are maturing at an earlier age.

I think the Ministry of Education, to a certain extent, should have harsh penalties for students who behave in an indisciplined manner. And teachers should be trained in conflict resolution and not be fighting with student as this makes them look unprofessional.

I have seen students going and coming from school with their trousers below their waist, earrings in their ears, some of them even have knives and scissors in their waistbands.

Why are students walking with weapons? Are they going to school or to war? We must not stand by and allow these teenagers to have their own way in school. It is our island and we have a right to fight against injustice. The Ministry of National Security in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, should step forward and do something. Afterall we are talking about Jamaica's future.

I am, etc.,

Mark Bell

Harbour Drive

Kingston 17