Don't blame the schools - and I'm not saying you necessarily are - if they're like the schools in Canada, and I'm assuming to some extent they are, they've had much of their authority taken out of their hands. I don't go in for the ol' "let's beat them into submission" approach that seems popular on this thread, but it is helpful if young people feel that those in positions of authority actually have some sort of power.

And while many blame the situation in the schools on policies imposed by the state, parents in general DO NOT want their children to be subjected to any sort of discipline in school. Yes, they want eveyone else's children to be subjected to discipline but they want their own little angels to be free to behave in whatever manner they like. As a teacher, I have seen intelligent, well-educated, rational, socially-responsible citizens turn into raving, slobbering idiots when confronted with the vicious accusation that their teen-aged infants have done something inappropriate. Often the same people you hear longing for the days when you would be afraid to go home and tell your parents if you got into trouble at school ...

As a teacher, every time you consider disciplinary action, you have to weigh the possibility that you will be commencing a ten-year war of attrition with vengeful parents and perhaps an extended family as well.

(Yes, a little frustration coming out here ... )