Margaret Thatcher Ate My Homework

Would you believe it, school kids in Britain show a "lack of respect for authority" according to their teachers. And—get this—teachers say kids today are worse than they've ever been. It's a sorry state of affairs, but take heart. Thanks to an impromptu lesson from the president of a British teachers' union, we know who to blame:

The legacy of Thatcherism is behind plummeting standards of behaviour in the classroom and a lack of respect for authority among young people, a teachers' leader has claimed.

The union's new president blamed former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for the decline in discipline and traditional values. He told its annual conference in Birmingham that this lack of respect in society was the reason why a minority of children now regularly disrupted lessons while a few had even physically attacked their teachers.

"I make no apology in adding my name to the long list of people who feel that Margaret Thatcher did more harm to the society in which we live than anyone else in modern times," he said.