SO OFTEN do we hear about the unruly behaviour of children that it is easy to forget about the influence of the parents. In general, behind every happy and successful child, there is a hard-working, conscientious adult trying their best to pull off the difficult trick of parenthood. Sadly, the reverse can also be true.

According to David Hart, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, the behaviour of some parents is getting worse at a time when unruly children are beginning to improve. Speaking in York today, Mr Hart was expected to say that tougher criminal penalties may be needed to punish parents who failed to deal with their "out of control children".

In a speech to the association's annual conference, Mr Hart conceded that the Government's campaign to improve children's behaviour was "beginning to pay dividends", but he added that ministers still had "no answer" to the effect violent and difficult parents could have on a school.

Mr Hart said tougher sanctions were required for "condoned truancy", where children's absence from school was known about, or even apparently approved, by their parents. Many truants are found in the company of an adult, often their parent. Mr Hart also argued that existing laws needed to be enforced with greater vigour both by local authorities and police.

It is right that parents who condone their child's truancy should be dealt with harshly. By being complicit in their child's unauthorised absence from school, such negligent parents could be setting their child up for failure in later life.

During school hours, children need to be in school - to continue their education and to establish themselves away from the home. They should not be out roaming the streets or "bunking off" with their parents.

Most children and their parents behave well and know what is required of them. But the troublesome minority of parents who do not control their children can create all sorts of problems for the rest of us.

Updated: 11:26 Monday, May 05, 2003