David Blunkett, the British education secretary, has made a plea to teachers and parents to bring back "the old-fashioned values of politeness and respect".

He was speaking at the NASUWT conference about dealing with unruly behaviour in school. He told teachers they should try to discourage foul and abusive language: "We need to work with you in trying to instil a bit of politeness and decency into the behaviour of the next generation. Obscenity and foulness are a prerequisite of thuggishness and brutality."