Some say laws designed to protect children may have swung the balance too far. Are people who work with children too vulnerable to false accusations? Has child protection legislation gone too far?

All kids are well capable of telling lies that cause trouble for adults. If it's grassing up Mum to Granny for not handing over enough pocket money, we all laugh. The problem is that such antics can land people such as teachers in really hot water. If on the other hand we discount all complaints by children, we place the genuinely vulnerable in potentially mortal peril. How can we separate fact from fiction? How about video cameras in classrooms? It sounds a bit extreme, but it all comes down to how seriously society decides to treat this issue.

Rodger Edwards, uk

Raising your voice can be very useful when attempting to gain control of a situation which has got out of hand. Often it is the only way teachers can make students pay attention! Surely preventing it will only lead to an increased number of frustrated teachers and excluded pupils as teachers will find it even more difficult to control a difficult class through no fault of their own?

Michael t. Farnworth, Isle of Man

A head teacher gets hauled through the courts due to false allegations from a pupil. There is something seriously wrong going on here. Personally I never did see the point of banning corporal punishment in schools. The ban is a fine demonstration of how much damage political correctness can cause. An entire generation has never been taught responsibility for their actions, and that's a real shame.

Mark b, uk

Rob is correct, children have been taught their rights but not their responsibilities. The trendy education methods have over the years removed any semblance of respect for teachers and adults generally. We have a generation of yobs that have been produced by a generation of yobs. No wonder nobody wants to be a teacher.

Gerry Anstey, England

There appears no deterrence to people who falsely accuse - whether it is a pupil accusing a teacher over "violence", a patient accusing a doctor over "misconduct", or a woman accusing a man over "rape". With all of these cases, there must be something that the party wrongly accused can get redress, and for the perpetrator to be rightly punished. From the days of witch-hunting, nothing has changed - the accuser always appears to have more weight in the eyes of the law and the press, than the accused. This must stop as this injustice shows acute naivety of our legal system in relation to humankind (i.e. the law cannot understand that many people lie to achieve their aims).

Martin Adams, uk

There is a difficult balance that has to be struck between protecting children from real abuse and giving the teacher the human right not to be punished or penalised in any way until proven guilty. I hope anyone who has made a false accusation has time in adulthood to reflect on the damage they have caused - not only to the innocent teacher, but to future generations of abused children who may no longer be given the credibility they deserve.