ABSTRACT
Within the context of growing concerns about standards of behaviour and morality amongst children, teachers, together with others in the caring professions, are increasingly being called upon to help individual children and families with serious social and emotional problems. Schools regularly find themselves having to deal with challenging antisocial behaviour among children and adolescents (teachers themselves having been victims of violent attacks in some cases); they are asked to help tackle crime and drug abuse in communities; and they are called upon to be in the front line both to detect and cope with child abuse in its various forms. In essence, what is now being expected of teachers and schools by society is that they should play a more vigorous role in averting what is seen as a general collapse in moral values and standards of behaviour.
