Estelle Morris has made an astonishing call for the extension of parenting orders to cover the mothers and fathers of youngsters who have not been convicted of a crime.

Currently orders can only be imposed on a child's parents by a court following a criminal offence.

Her applauding audience of delegates from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers have already called on education authorities to privately prosecute pupils and parents who carry out verbal or physical acts of violence against schools staff.

In a well-trailed but redrafted speech, given from hand-written notes, the education secretary called for a "taboo" busting debate to question the role of "feckless" parents and to impose a duty to support teachers when disciplining children for bad behaviour.

"It cannot be right that teacher is the first one to teach them acceptable behaviour. If teachers deal with children because they cross these boundaries they should be supported by parents," she said.

Morris is singling out a minority of mother and fathers for compulsory parenting classes, citing figures showing that 80 per cent of pupil absences from school were condoned by families or other adults.

"Parents who march down to school and rather than supporting teachers in their decisions just argue in front of the child that the decision shouldn't have been taken, the message you give to that child is that teachers shouldn't be respected and adults should be respected and that's not good enough," she told the ATL.

Teachers, she claimed, had suffered for years in silence and now was the time for society to tackle the "taboo" by getting tough on unruly parents.

"It's about time that the rest of society began to talk about it as well. We need to break that taboo, even it means politicians talking about an issue which usually they avoid."

The detail of her proposals is currently unclear, with both Home Office and Department of Education and Skills spokesmen vague on the substance of the call, where responsibility for the new parenting orders would lie and on what basis they would issued.

Courts have had the power to impose the orders since June 2000 but only just over 200 have been issued to date, and the education secretary believes orders could be imposed where a child has been suspended or expelled without primary legislation.

Morris also echoed ATL calls for Local Education Authorities to do more to combat school violence, pledging to change the law if necessary.

"As a citizen of this country that values education, employers should take whatever action is needed, including prosecution, to make sure that that doesn't happen again. The powers are there and they are not being used. Parents causing a disturbance on school sites can be removed and they can be prosecuted," she said.

"If it is the case that there is something in the law that makes it a barrier to being used then I and those of my ministerial colleagues that work in justice areas will get together and do what needs to be done.''

But amid banner headlines proclaiming "lawless Britain", Morris warned against demonising children.

"Let's not damn a whole generation of young people, let's acknowledge that children who are now between 11 and 14 or 16 to 19, most of them are a real credit to themselves and their families," she cautioned.

"I think that the debate that we must have as a society now is not an indictment of them as a generation it isn't and we need to get that message to them."

Kids cause crime surge

Disruptive and unruly schoolchildren have been blamed for the sharp rise in the number of mobile phone thefts and at Tony Blair's top level crime summit last week education ministers were dragooned into the government's latest war on crime.

The prime minister first made the demand, last Friday, for councils to make wider use of parenting orders, which were introduced by the government in 2000 and through which violent parents can be ordered to attend counselling or face court and a fine.

Blair warned that he expected local authorities to use tough powers to punish parents who turn a blind eye to their children's truancy.

"Local authorities have the powers to prosecute parents and enforce parenting orders against those who, by failing to do anything about their child truanting, are colluding in it. I want to see those powers used properly to help us deal with this problem," he urged last Friday.

"It is the job of parents to see that their children are at school - and they are breaking the law and failing in their duty if they don't."

The government will require all local authorities to provide an extended timetable for excluded children from September. Pupil referral units will give permanently excluded children extended compulsory schooling and LEAs are exhorted "to insist on attendance and can prosecute parents whose children fail to attend".

Labour to blame

But the Tories blame Labour for the rising tide of "disrespect" and violence.

Shadow education secretary Damian Green believes "the main reason why standards of discipline in schools have declined is the government's decision in 1998 to reduce exclusions of disruptive pupils regardless of the circumstances".

"This decision undermined the authority of heads and teachers and has led to more violence in schools," he argues.

Although the exclusion decision has now been reversed, the answer for Green is empowerment for heads and school governors.

"What is needed now is for real power to be given to heads and governors to take decisions about the discipline in their schools," he said.

"Unless Estelle Morris has something concrete to announce then this crackdown will be seen as just another empty gimmick."

The head of the ATL's defence committee, Brian Waggett, regards the assertion that poor parenting equals violent pupils as "simplistic".

"That was a very simplistic statement saying all parents are responsible for everything their children do. Some parents are very responsible and their children are still problematic," he said.

Waggett's view is that children know what they are doing.

"Any teacher will tell you unless they are extremely odd or unusual that the age of criminal responsibility isn't 10, it's lower. They know what they are doing unless they have mental health problems."

Stop "scapegoating" parents, say Lib Dems

The Lib Dems have hit out at the government claims that "feckless" parents are to blame for increased violence in the classroom and on the nation's streets.

Phil Willis, education spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, believes blaming the parents is "typical" of government scapegoating for its own education failures.

"Blaming a minority of parents for the government's failure to meet the needs and aspirations of our poorest communities is typical of this administration. The vast majority of our schools are seeing unprecedented levels of support from parents. The government must stop creating scapegoats for the failure of its own policies," he said.

"Pupils with challenging behaviour need specialist provision, which is largely unavailable, and an education system that offers them real aspirations and real hope."