I AM sure that many will have found it troubling and unacceptable to read that many nursery nurses and pupil support assistants in Edinburgh do not feel safe at work ("Teaching staff fear violence by children", The Herald, November 15). More than half of teaching staff feel suffering violence has become "part of the job". Probably, Edinburgh is not unique in this sense in Scotland in being faced with such a regrettable situation.

It is clear that we have a worryingly large number of children, some clearly of a very young age, who are arrogant and undisciplined, more than capable of resorting to violence. Unfortunately, there are, in my view, many inadequate parents out there who allow their children to do as they please and who attend to their children's demands at all costs, thereby enabling them to believe that they must at all times get their way. The effective disciplining of children by parents in many cases has become a thing of the past. How often have we seen parents actually negotiating with young children concerning their bad behaviour? How often have we seen young children careering around restaurants, under little or no control, detracting from the occasion for many others?

With reports such as that recently concerning nurseries and schools in Edinburgh, surely it is time for the "naughty step" to be consigned to oblivion and for parents in Edinburgh and elsewhere to step up and to play their role more effectively with regard to the behaviour of their children.

Ian W Thomson,

38 Kirkintilloch Road, Lenzie.