Texture series - 2

The shot yesterday was a close crop of this
DaveH was almost there!

Please rest assured that bagpuss was not harmed in the making of today's blip!

One observant blipper might recognise this as he has seen it personally.

Busy day at work but good. Kids turned up for coursework club - nearly fell over with the shock. Got more coursework in today. Some of the senior students got some exam results back today as well - its great to see the obvious relief and excitement when students have achieved what they set out to achieve.

Question - and I don't know the answer, and this isn't related to a specific incident - I've just been pondering...increasingly most places that serve the public in some way - hospitals, railways etc have signs up that say something along the lines of "We will not tolerate verbal or physical threats or abuse of our staff...etc"
Are educational institutions one of the few places where this isn't stated?
Don't get me wrong, I actually think that putting these signs up doesn't serve any benefit in most cases, but I can see that if charges or action is ever taken then the protaganist can't complain that they "didn't know that it wasn't OK to assault someone".
I just wonder sometimes. Because when we work with young people, we do make so many allowances for them, and in most cases, rightly so. They are growing up, they have to learn, they have to make their mistakes. Our role as the adults in a significant part of their day to day life is to help them learn, especially from their mistakes. Some days, I just wonder though if it is a reflection of the society that we are in, that it appears that some young people think that it is absolutely acceptable to openly challenge, defy and verbally abuse the adults around them.
More worryingly, and this is where the signs come in...a very very small minority of parents seem to think that it is absolutely OK to treat teachers with verbal aggression, offensive language and to make threats. It does happen, I defy anyone to tell me that it has never happened in their school at some point. I wonder where the line is - when will the table turn? By turning the other cheek, being responsible and respectful in our own conduct, even in the face of behaviour that is aggressive, offensive or threatening, are we actually doing anything to change it?
Retailers must experience this problem a lot surely? Stroppy customers? Even when I am getting really poor customer service, I have never yet resorted to verbal abuse of the person in question...I just come home and rant to Corin and you guys.
Where is the thin end of the wedge?