TEACHING seems to be one of the hardest jobs around these days.

It must be worse than being an entertainer in a northern club. If it goes well, fine. If not... hecklers, drunks or worse.

Having said that, I don't recall reading of shoot-outs in front of the glittery curtains, or disgruntled punters chasing performers home and stoning their houses in the small hours.

But that is precisely the experience of some of those hapless souls who, five days a week, must take deep breaths and enter the hellholes of Britain's classrooms.

The situation in some of our schools is now so bad that a teachers' union is calling for CCTV, metal detectors and warning signs to stop violence from pupils armed with guns and knives.

Britain is now in the grip of an epidemic of dysfunctional behaviour. Whether it's binge drinking, vandalism or late-night loutishness, the effect is the same. And even the professionals are now being overwhelmed by a feeling of powerlessness.

It's not difficult to appreciate the problems facing teachers. Daily, they must come into contact with children who have never encountered boundaries or even the most elementary guidance on how to behave.

We now have a generation that cannot accept losing a game of football, let alone coping with the inevitable setbacks of life. This is a world where the answer to frustrated will is an immediate tantrum.

Every school break now sees feral packs of adolescents roaming at will. Left to their own devices, trouble is never far away. And everybody else seems to have given up... the police are not interested and citizens are understandably wary of getting involved.

This situation can only improve when parents properly supervise their offspring and teach them the difference between right and wrong. At the moment, the teachers are picking up the tab for the current parenting meltdown.

Sadly, there will be no progress until it is recognised that there cannot be rights without responsibilities.

Pigeon pie in the sky

MY colleague Mike Pryce reports that the owners of racing pigeons are becoming worried about increasing numbers of birds of prey.

Peregrines are particularly partial to pigeon, and so more birds are being bounced out of the sky.

Once again, a section of wildlife is demonised for sharing the planet with us.

Strange, isn't it, that we fill the woods with pheasant chicks and are then surprised when predators think that a new fly-thru food service has been laid on.

Then we pack the skies with tame, domesticated, trusting fowls... and become hot under the collar when feathered killing machines accept the invitation to dinner.

Gamekeepers would have exterminated all our birds of prey years ago. But this didn't happen, thanks to conservationists petitioning Parliament. If laws hadn't been passed, our countryside would now be full of bloated game birds queueing up to be shot, with ne'er a raptor to be seen.

Hawks are beautiful creatures and should be left in peace. If the price is a few off-form racing pigeons, then so be it.

Time to bury hatchet

HUNTINGDON Arts Director Chris Jaeger has proudly announced the second anniversary of the Swan Theatre's rescue.

Much has happened in that time. The theatre has been turned around, Huntingdon Hall has gone from strength to strength, and Worcester will host its third festival this August.

The Faithful City should reflect what this man of limitless energy and enthusiasm has achieved.

Perhaps, one day, even his long-term detractors will have the good grace to accept that Chris Jaeger's achievement should be allowed to transcend whatever animosities are remaining. And not before time.

n THE plan to fine bar staff for serving drunken customers is nothing but a disgusting, cowardly cop-out by the politicians.

Workers who already have a hard and average-paid job must now suffer the added stress of making snap value judgements on levels of sobriety in a smoke-filled and noisy public house... on pain of punishment.

Once again, in this idiotic topsy-turvy country, the easy targets are the first to be punished.

It's yet another manifestation of feel-bad Britain.