Research carried out by ICM on behalf of Teachers' TV has found that eight in ten teachers claim that a lack of parental control is the primary reason for pupil disruption in the classroom.
"It is clear teachers want parents to take more responsibility for their children's behaviour," commented Teachers' TV's behaviour management specialist, John Bayley.
"Relationships between home and school are central to student discipline and teachers' frustration shows we still have a long way to go in building a partnership between parents and schools."
Dr John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association (SHA), agreed, saying: "The survey backs up what the SHA and school leaders have been saying for some time.
"Parents have responsibilities as well as rights, and for too long the focus has been only on their rights. Schools need parents' backing and support in order to have an effect on problem behaviour."
A number of local authorities have introduced tougher measures against parents of truants and troublemakers over the past 18 months, including on-the-spot fines and even electronic tagging.
However, the findings appear indicative of the frustration felt by many teachers with the government's policy of granting more power to parents within the English educational system.
Over half of those questioned claimed that valid exclusion decisions are too often overturned by parental appeals, while many feel intimidated when dealing with the parents of badly-behaved pupils.
Dr Dunford added: "In too many cases, appeals panels are erratic and their judgements are based wholly on the circumstances of the individual child, without giving enough thought to other pupils and teachers in the school.
"Parents should only be able to appeal an exclusion based on whether the proper procedures were followed, not whether the school's judgement was correct."
Nevertheless, teachers do not believe that parents are solely to blame for disruption in class, with 37 per cent citing a lack of consistent discipline policies in schools as a major cause.
In addition, a quarter of teachers suggested that the rigid and unimaginative nature of the current national curriculum is failing to stimulate pupils, leading them to misbehave.
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