Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Rods2 on 03 December 2013, 15:03:42
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in education. Where we have steadily dropped over the last 20 years, so we don't make the top 20, despite a vastly increased education budget. :( :o :-[
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25187997 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25187997)
Not surprising that the countries, with the best results like Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea have gone from much poorer than us to much richer over the last 40-50 years. Shanghai is one to watch as the powerhouse of the Chinese economy with their phenomenal growth rate.
Personally, I can't see anything more, than more of the same, for the UK with an unmanaged continuous decline. :( :( :( :(
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They leave school uneducated and unemployable standards have gone down the pan in the last 20 years :( :(. Bring back grammar schools and secondary moderns with the 11 plus :y :y
Saw on the news last night about how Korean kids go to normal school and then extra tuition classes getting home very late for a meal and bed, not for them 4 or 5 classes a day and games machines all night, with no homework.
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We were 26th overall, US was 36th. America today, Britain tomorrow, we're going down.
Of course, no mention is made of the fact that the countries which have rapidly dropped down the table are those which suffer mass immigration.
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Also, if we want to talk seriously about this, I'll give you one word.......motivation. A lot of kids, and their parents, are just not motivated enough. Our whole society is, in general, apathetic.
There is no magic bullet. Successive generations have been told that things are ok by poor performing governments only interested in the balance of payments. We are into third or fourth generation under-performers now and it will take the same amount of time to put it right. The psyche of the nation is not ready for a kick up the arse and, as I think Rods said, we will fall further before things (possibly) get any better.
My missus, after 20 odd years of working 10-12 hour days, is rapidly becoming disillusioned with the whole business.
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Also, if we want to talk seriously about this, I'll give you one word.......motivation. A lot of kids, and their parents, are just not motivated enough. Our whole society is, in general, apathetic.
There is no magic bullet. Successive generations have been told that things are ok by poor performing governments only interested in the balance of payments. We are into third or fourth generation under-performers now and it will take the same amount of time to put it right. The psyche of the nation is not ready for a kick up the arse and, as I think Rods said, we will fall further before things (possibly) get any better.
My missus, after 20 odd years of working 10-12 hour days, is rapidly becoming disillusioned with the whole business.
This is a most accurate synopsis - it is the bottomline of our predicament. Many many people are in general totally apathetic, want everything on a plate and bring their kids up in a manner which reflects the same.
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Also, if we want to talk seriously about this, I'll give you one word.......motivation. A lot of kids, and their parents, are just not motivated enough. Our whole society is, in general, apathetic.
There is no magic bullet. Successive generations have been told that things are ok by poor performing governments only interested in the balance of payments. We are into third or fourth generation under-performers now and it will take the same amount of time to put it right. The psyche of the nation is not ready for a kick up the arse and, as I think Rods said, we will fall further before things (possibly) get any better.
My missus, after 20 odd years of working 10-12 hour days, is rapidly becoming disillusioned with the whole business.
This is a most accurate synopsis - it is the bottomline of our predicament. Many many people are in general totally apathetic, want everything on a plate and bring their kids up in a manner which reflects the same.
The sad thing (to me) is that there are still a lot of people who 'believe'. Every year my wife tells me that she has a good cohort this year and she is sure her results will be better. But I can see in her eyes that it's more hope than anything else. At the end of the year, despite her hard work, she gets her annual kick in the teeth. She dusts herself down and says 'next year.........'
My 14- year-old lad loves school. He goes with a smile and is doing really well, predicted to get A* in all subjects. His kick in the teeth will come later.
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My adage. "Blame it on the parents" holds true for maybe 99% of societies ills.
ye reap that which you sew.
30 years ago , my friend who was a teacher, made extra money by teaching in the evening. 100% of his pupils were Asian and 100% wanted to learn.
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They leave school uneducated and unemployable standards have gone down the pan in the last 20 years :( :(. Bring back grammar schools and secondary moderns with the 11 plus :y :y
Saw on the news last night about how Korean kids go to normal school and then extra tuition classes getting home very late for a meal and bed, not for them 4 or 5 classes a day and games machines all night, with no homework.
I took the 11 plus and passed. :y :y
However, even though I'm a grammar school boy.......I'm still as 'fick' as two short planks. ;D
P.S these smilies are annoying. :'( :'( :'(
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As long as education remains a political football, and our so-called 'leaders' fail to get together and agree a common education policy, but insist on using it as a stick with which to beat the Opposition, of whatever colour, I am afraid that we will continue to decline. >:( >:( >:(
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They leave school uneducated and unemployable standards have gone down the pan in the last 20 years :( :(. Bring back grammar schools and secondary moderns with the 11 plus :y :y
Saw on the news last night about how Korean kids go to normal school and then extra tuition classes getting home very late for a meal and bed, not for them 4 or 5 classes a day and games machines all night, with no homework.
I took the 11 plus and passed. :y :y
However, even though I'm a grammar school boy.......I'm still as 'fick' as two short planks. ;D
P.S these smilies are annoying. :'( :'( :'(
But you can string a sentence together and I bet your mechanical maths is superb. See the panic in many people's faces today if they have to work something out like a discount, fraction, percentage.
For a grammar school, 11 plus person - no problem. Even those who did not get to 11 plus but are of a certain age will also be comfortable with their basic maths - this is how it used to be - for some it is cool to be thick and laugh about it - you may joke Opti but in relative terms you are far far from thick and the 11 plus must have stood you in good stead
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Not wishing to go against the grain but where I live all I'm seeing is new impressive schools, academies and colleges being built. seems that the money is being spent correctly here. luckily :y
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Not wishing to go against the grain but where I live all I'm seeing is new impressive schools, academies and colleges being built. seems that the money is being spent correctly here. luckily :y
You can build all the best facilities you want but unless the children and parents want their kids to learn, the system will just churn out thickos who are good at text speak and can garble faster than a machine gun like. Will they be able to check their change? learn a foreign language or two? They wil be dead good however at Angry Bird eight so there is hope...............
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Not wishing to go against the grain but where I live all I'm seeing is new impressive schools, academies and colleges being built. seems that the money is being spent correctly here. luckily :y
That is happening all over the country. You can have all the nice buildings you like, but if the Education System is rubbish, you may as well teach in a shed!
There must be 5 or 6 'Academies' within 10 miles from here....... none of which are described as 'excellent' by the parents of the children who attend.
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Question for STEMO
Does your wife ever get stroppy parents who want to know why their kids aren't achieving? And then having found out at parents evening etc, do they then give their kids an incentive?
In my day it was called if you don't apply yourself you will get a good hiding and end up being a dustman. Oh and we did get a good hiding too if there wasn't an improvement.
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I see situations where debt relief has been granted to developing countries (the so called HIPIC countries). Schools of good quality were built in good faith but no teachers of fit out provided - no coordination, they were still empty at last report.
The quality of buildings should be an inspirational source to the teaching regime but without the people systems and committment to do well then the potential will not be realised.
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ooooops. apologies, speed read and thought it was about spending on education :-[ ::) :y
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ooooops. apologies, speed read and thought it was about spending on education :-[ ::) :y
You just said a mouthful, boy. :(
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Question for STEMO
Does your wife ever get stroppy parents who want to know why their kids aren't achieving? And then having found out at parents evening etc, do they then give their kids an incentive?
In my day it was called if you don't apply yourself you will get a good hiding and end up being a dustman. Oh and we did get a good hiding too if there wasn't an improvement.
Yes, of course, but far too few I'm afraid.
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Question for STEMO
Does your wife ever get stroppy parents who want to know why their kids aren't achieving? And then having found out at parents evening etc, do they then give their kids an incentive?
In my day it was called if you don't apply yourself you will get a good hiding and end up being a dustman. Oh and we did get a good hiding too if there wasn't an improvement.
Yes, of course, but far too few I'm afraid.
I got the hidings, had a high pain threshold so ignored them - and ended up almost a dustman. ;D ;D
Trouble is that argument wont work any more as dustmen earn over 500 quid a week these days, which is why we all pay through the nose in council tax. ::)
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I'll give you an example of what she's up against although, for obvious reasons, I must be careful. At the end of year 6, the kids sit the their standard attainment tests (SATS). If a child is expected to get a level 5 (top marks), then you count them in as such in order to give you some idea as to where you will end up in the league table. One level 5 can make all the difference.
One such child brought a letter in from her mum asking for permission to go on holiday during term time, right in the middle of SATs week. Wifey was horrified and said no. They went anyway. Sanction?, 100 pounds fine. Saved on holiday? Probably five hundred pounds.
What can one do?
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What saddens me is the number of adults who are either illiterate, or extremely poor when it comes to spelling.
How the hell can a child go through more than a decade at school and yet not have the ability to read and write to a reasonable standard.
Do children not read to their teachers these days?.... :-[
Back in the sixties we all had our own individual 'spelling book'........with twenty new words to learn each week.
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I'm guessing a lot has to do with these new fangle diseases (or whatever they are) like Dyslexia, ADHD, Chlamydia and the like! :-*
Seriously - There are no losers in our Schools anymore, nobody is allowed to be an 'underachiever'. Every child has to be taught the same and told they are doing just great.
Bullshit! If a kid is struggling, less playtime and more studying! Can't see it happening though!
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What saddens me is the number of adults who are either illiterate, or extremely poor when it comes to spelling.
How the hell can a child go through more than a decade at school and yet not have the ability to read and write to a reasonable standard.
Do children not read to their teachers these days?.... :-[
Back in the sixties we all had our own individual 'spelling book'........with twenty new words to learn each week.
Unfortunately, didn't work with me where I'm dyslexic. I have since I was sixteen / seventeen when I realised the importance of English put in a lot of time into improving my English to go from abysmal to poor on spelling, having to rely heavily on spell checkers, without them them I'm back to the old method of a dictionary by my side.
With my grown up daughter I could see she was struggling with arithmetic at school, where the teacher struggled to teach it. So I paid for my daughter to learn with extra private lessons using a Japanese system called Kumon, which is based on repartition and it works. On Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, division and fractions she can answer a question almost instantly.
Where my wife is a primary school teacher, my 3 year old daughter already knows the alphabet and is beginning to read and write along with learning simple arithmetic. She is also very practical where she enjoys painting and simple paper model making which you can download off the Internet and print. This week she has been making Christmas cards with coloured paper. My wife and her sister rarely watch television where they would rather be making things themselves and helping my daughter to. Spending time and inspiring children is all too easily overlooked.
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What saddens me is the number of adults who are either illiterate, or extremely poor when it comes to spelling.
How the hell can a child go through more than a decade at school and yet not have the ability to read and write to a reasonable standard.
Do children not read to their teachers these days?.... :-[
Back in the sixties we all had our own individual 'spelling book'........with twenty new words to learn each week.
Err do they read to their parents might be a better question first!
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Sanction?, 100 pounds fine. Saved on holiday? Probably five hundred pounds.
What can one do?
£10,000 sanction, take the kids off the parents and then shoot the parents.
Er.. I came over all TB for a minute there I think.
Seriously, though, £100 is nothing to an awful lot of people (and the world to some!) so clearly the fine needs to be bigger and the threat greater - parents held culpable under the thread of serious (criminal) sanctions, perhaps?
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Sanction?, 100 pounds fine. Saved on holiday? Probably five hundred pounds.
What can one do?
£10,000 sanction, take the kids off the parents and then shoot the parents.
Er.. I came over all TB for a minute there I think.
Seriously, though, £100 is nothing to an awful lot of people (and the world to some!) so clearly the fine needs to be bigger and the threat greater - parents held culpable under the thread of serious (criminal) sanctions, perhaps?
Fine in theory, Aaron, but when people are getting community service for burglary or worse, hardly practical. You can't actually send them to prison, and you wouldn't want to because it wouldn't sovle the problem. Any lesser punishment is likely to be ignored, even paraded as a badge of honour. It's a very sticky problem, intertwined with lots of other social/economic woes.
Where's my rope? ;D
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Sanction?, 100 pounds fine. Saved on holiday? Probably five hundred pounds.
What can one do?
£10,000 sanction, take the kids off the parents and then shoot the parents.
Er.. I came over all TB for a minute there I think.
Seriously, though, £100 is nothing to an awful lot of people (and the world to some!) so clearly the fine needs to be bigger and the threat greater - parents held culpable under the thread of serious (criminal) sanctions, perhaps?
Fine in theory, Aaron, but when people are getting community service for burglary or worse, hardly practical. You can't actually send them to prison, and you wouldn't want to because it wouldn't sovle the problem. Any lesser punishment is likely to be ignored, even paraded as a badge of honour. It's a very sticky problem, intertwined with lots of other social/economic woes.
Where's my rope? ;D
;D to the rope bit - some of the threads on here have been very depressing lately ;)
I know you're right though - it was a half hearted tongue in cheek response on my part anyway. I don't pretend to have all the answers to fix what's broken where I work, let alone to fix what's broken in society :)
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What saddens me is the number of adults who are either illiterate, or extremely poor when it comes to spelling.
How the hell can a child go through more than a decade at school and yet not have the ability to read and write to a reasonable standard.
Do children not read to their teachers these days?.... :-[
Back in the sixties we all had our own individual 'spelling book'........with twenty new words to learn each week.
Err do they read to their parents might be a better question first!
my lil girl does every night. she`s in keystage 2 but sits with ks5 & 6 with her spellings. i do push her though. ;D
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What saddens me is the number of adults who are either illiterate, or extremely poor when it comes to spelling.
How the hell can a child go through more than a decade at school and yet not have the ability to read and write to a reasonable standard.
Do children not read to their teachers these days?.... :-[
Back in the sixties we all had our own individual 'spelling book'........with twenty new words to learn each week.
Err do they read to their parents might be a better question first!
my lil girl does every night. she`s in keystage 2 but sits with ks5 & 6 with her spellings. i do push her though. ;D
Ditto, my boy started reception school in September and has come on leaps and bounds. He loves coming home and telling us what new sounds and words he has learnt. After playtime dinner and bath, he sits and reads his book to me and we go through his "rocket words" that he has to learn, before moving onto the next stage.
I'm making the most of his enthusiasm and lust for learning as I'm sure over time that may well diminish. In the meantime, I'm giving him all the encouragement and time he wants :)
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What saddens me is the number of adults who are either illiterate, or extremely poor when it comes to spelling.
How the hell can a child go through more than a decade at school and yet not have the ability to read and write to a reasonable standard.
Do children not read to their teachers these days?.... :-[
Back in the sixties we all had our own individual 'spelling book'........with twenty new words to learn each week.
Err do they read to their parents might be a better question first!
my lil girl does every night. she`s in keystage 2 but sits with ks5 & 6 with her spellings. i do push her though. ;D
Ditto, my boy started reception school in September and has come on leaps and bounds. He loves coming home and telling us what new sounds and words he has learnt. After playtime dinner and bath, he sits and reads his book to me and we go through his "rocket words" that he has to learn, before moving onto the next stage.
I'm making the most of his enthusiasm and lust for learning as I'm sure over time that may well diminish. In the meantime, I'm giving him all the encouragement and time he wants :)
We must be doing something right then Dave. 8)
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What saddens me is the number of adults who are either illiterate, or extremely poor when it comes to spelling.
How the hell can a child go through more than a decade at school and yet not have the ability to read and write to a reasonable standard.
Do children not read to their teachers these days?.... :-[
Back in the sixties we all had our own individual 'spelling book'........with twenty new words to learn each week.
Err do they read to their parents might be a better question first!
my lil girl does every night. she`s in keystage 2 but sits with ks5 & 6 with her spellings. i do push her though. ;D
Ditto, my boy started reception school in September and has come on leaps and bounds. He loves coming home and telling us what new sounds and words he has learnt. After playtime dinner and bath, he sits and reads his book to me and we go through his "rocket words" that he has to learn, before moving onto the next stage.
I'm making the most of his enthusiasm and lust for learning as I'm sure over time that may well diminish. In the meantime, I'm giving him all the encouragement and time he wants :)
We must be doing something right then Dave. 8)
We can only try. If we give them the time and energy to help them and show them that this is the way to go from an early stage, then at least we can say we tried our best at the start. It's up to them, with more encouragement, to keep up the hard work!!
My 2 eldest, one is now in college and the other is doing his final exams ready to leave school this year.... they haven't done too bad considering!!
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When I was a nipper nothing less than the loss of a major limb or decapitation would get me a day off school.
Belly ache or, 'Mom I don't feel too good' just didn't work. ;D ;D
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Excactly the same here, My youngest (7) reads to me, my eldest (9) reads a lot to (does spellings every week which at target'd at 13+ and a few I cant spell!), all at home and they are encouraged to do so.
Last night we went to the school xmas play and the youngest was a narrator, due to one of the others not turning up, she also had to read his part without any practice....it was perfect, no pauses, confusion or anything (very proud), just confident as she knows she can do it.
But its as much home as school.....and that is where some fail thier children.
I have seen no evidence of a failing education setup
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When I was a nipper nothing less than the loss of a major limb or decapitation would get me a day off school.
Belly ache or, 'Mom I don't feel too good' just didn't work. ;D ;D
Me too. I remember the bad winter of (I think) 1966. Our hamlet was snowed in for about 3 weeks. First day - no school bus so I had to walk on my own through 3 miles of snow drifts and blizzards. Catch the public bus and then walk the last two miles. There was no snow at school whatsoever. I got the cane for being late (10 a.m.) and lying about the snow. Then in the evening I had to walk the 3 miles home in yet more driving snow. Had to do that every day for the next 3 weeks of school days.
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In my day it was uphill both ways and six foot snowdrifts in August, damnit.
;)
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When I was a nipper nothing less than the loss of a major limb or decapitation would get me a day off school.
Belly ache or, 'Mom I don't feel too good' just didn't work. ;D ;D
Me too. I remember the bad winter of (I think) 1966. Our hamlet was snowed in for about 3 weeks. First day - no school bus so I had to walk on my own through 3 miles of snow drifts and blizzards. Catch the public bus and then walk the last two miles. There was no snow at school whatsoever. I got the cane for being late (10 a.m.) and lying about the snow. Then in the evening I had to walk the 3 miles home in yet more driving snow. Had to do that every day for the next 3 weeks of school days.
These are the sort of life events that my 92 year old mother would describe as 'character building'...... :)
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I remember it being minus 27°F one year. My school was over 100 miles away and it took me and my brother three weeks to walk there. We nearly died of starvation and exposure on the way. The teacher thrashed us when we arrived and sent us straight home.
When we got there, after being away for nearly a week, our parents had moved.
Kids don't know they're born these days.
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Sanction?, 100 pounds fine. Saved on holiday? Probably five hundred pounds.
What can one do?
£10,000 sanction, take the kids off the parents and then shoot the parents.
Er.. I came over all TB for a minute there I think.
Seriously, though, £100 is nothing to an awful lot of people (and the world to some!) so clearly the fine needs to be bigger and the threat greater - parents held culpable under the thread of serious (criminal) sanctions, perhaps?
Since 2006 at least, the requirements have been that to take a child out of school required a prior written request to, and approval by the Headmaster. The limit was 10 days in any school year. ref section 7 of "The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006"
On 1st Sept 2013 the requirements were tightened. Absense from school may now only be granted in "exceptional circumstances". Ref "The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013". To me that means death/funeral of a close relative or similar, and definatley does not mean "coz holidays are cheaper".
It is and always has been a criminal sanction. Part of the problem is that teachers/headmasters don't attempt to enforce the law. If I were a headmaster I would reply to every request for time off on holiday with a "No - and if you ignore me I will do my uttmost to ensure you are prosecuted to the full extent of the law and receive a criminal record". And quote the relavent sections of the acts of parliament as backup.
I get really pi55ed off when kids turn up on my specialy chosen ski holiday weeks when the little barstuards should be at school :)
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I remember it being minus 27°F one year. My school was over 100 miles away and it took me and my brother three weeks to walk there. We nearly died of starvation and exposure on the way. The teacher thrashed us when we arrived and sent us straight home.
When we got there, after being away for nearly a week, our parents had moved.
Kids don't know they're born these days.
That is SFA.......because when I was a lad........... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;)
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Headteachers are required to report these incidents to the local authority, it's up to them what the sanction should be. Heads can impose fines, nothing further.
Sorry..that's in reply to the post before last. Fickin Opti interrupting again. ;D
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Headteachers are required to report these incidents to the local authority, it's up to them what the sanction should be. Heads can impose fines, nothing further.
Sorry..that's in reply to the post before last. Fickin Opti interrupting again. ;D
No. It's a criminal offence, and has been since 2006 at least. It's up to the courts to decide punishment for criminal acts. Parents would think twice about taking kids out of school if they knew they were going to be hauled before the beak over it.
The fault is with the Teachers, Headmasters and LEA's for not implementing the law properly. Parliament has passed the laws, but no-one want's to enforce them.
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Headteachers are required to report these incidents to the local authority, it's up to them what the sanction should be. Heads can impose fines, nothing further.
Sorry..that's in reply to the post before last. Fickin Opti interrupting again. ;D
No. It's a criminal offence, and has been since 2006 at least. It's up to the courts to decide punishment for criminal acts. Parents would think twice about taking kids out of school if they knew they were going to be hauled before the beak over it.
The fault is with the Teachers, Headmasters and LEA's for not implementing the law properly. Parliament has passed the laws, but no-one want's to enforce them.
No. ;D Heads and teachers don't have legal departments to enforce anything, local authorities do and it's the council's legal team who decide whether to prosecute. Most won't go that far, a written warning is issued usually.
But, then again, what do you expect when sex offenders are receiving police cautions?
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Headteachers are required to report these incidents to the local authority, it's up to them what the sanction should be. Heads can impose fines, nothing further.
Sorry..that's in reply to the post before last. Fickin Opti interrupting again. ;D
No. It's a criminal offence, and has been since 2006 at least. It's up to the courts to decide punishment for criminal acts. Parents would think twice about taking kids out of school if they knew they were going to be hauled before the beak over it.
The fault is with the Teachers, Headmasters and LEA's for not implementing the law properly. Parliament has passed the laws, but no-one want's to enforce them.
No. ;D Heads and teachers don't have legal departments to enforce anything, local authorities do and it's the council's legal team who decide whether to prosecute. Most won't go that far, a written warning is issued usually.
But, then again, what do you expect when sex offenders are receiving police cautions?
Yes, and no. Teachers and Heads need to report it to the LEA. If the LEA then won't prosecute, then it's them that at at fault. It requires all three parties (Teacher, Head and LEA) to act correctly otherwise the offender gets 'let off'. The laws to prosecute are in place, but unless you use them they are just a waste of paper.
LEA's do not have the legal authority to issue a fine for a criminal offence - only a court can fine you. Assuming they are vaguely legal (which is a big assumption), they are probably offering something akin to a Speeding NIP/COFP in an attempt to save money by not going to court. If that's what happening then it's wrong. If the LEA decided to take (say) 1 in 10 cases before the magistrates for a first offence, then how many parents would risk it once the fist few cases ended up on the front page of the local rag? Do you feel lucky punk, do you :o
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Yes...that's what I said.
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Yes...that's what I said.
Ok - so maybe your OH should serve a Freedom of Information request on her LEA asking
1) How many reports has the LEA received of unauthorised absence from school?
2) How many of these were repeat offenders?
3) How many of the cases in 1) and 2) received a warning letter?
4) How many of the cases in 1) and 2) have been issued a 'fine'?
5) How many prosecutions have been attempted?
Then when you get the answer, go to the press and try to embarras the LEA into doing their effing job.
My bet is the answer to question 5 is a big fat zero.
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There are lots of reasons why people are not prosecuted, not least the fact that it costs time/money. I'm afraid it goes back to one of my earlier posts....apathy. Local authorities are having schools taken from their control every day, and LEA's, as such, will not exist for much longer. It will then be up to the academy chain to prosecute and I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.
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BTW, my missus has hardly got time to sleep, so I doubt she will be issuing any FOI requests, especially as she is no longer under the control of the LA.
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There are lots of reasons why people are not prosecuted, not least the fact that it costs time/money. I'm afraid it goes back to one of my earlier posts....apathy.
BTW, my missus has hardly got time to sleep, so I doubt she will be issuing any FOI requests, especially as she is no longer under the control of the LA.
Ok, I understand. But ultimatley there is no point in complaining that nothing is ever done unless someone, somewhere stands up and tries to do something about it. If Teachers/Heads don't think it's as important as all the other work they have to do, then nothing will ever change.
Been doing some googling. I'm not convinced the LEA is the correct way to proceed anyway. I don't understand what legal authority the LEA have in this. This is a criminal not civil offence. You wouldn't report a burgulary or assault to the LA. Criminal offences should be reported to the Police - it's their job to investigate alligations of criminal behaviour. If the Head were insistant enough, the parent could/would/should end up being interviewed under caution. The Police then give the evidence to the CPS who decide wheter to prosecute (or not). Simply being dragged down the police station for interview under caution would be enough to put the willies up most parents - and their story would soon be all around the playground and on to other parents.
Of course, getting Plod/CPS off their backsides would be another (probably much larger) apathy argument.