SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND--A British teaching union famous for strange ideas has supported proposal to employ dogs as classroom assistants. At the annual conference of the Professional Association of teachers in Southport, northwest of prefix = st1 /England, one person suggested properly trained dogs be able to keep order in primary schools. They can round up lost children and protect those who experience unfortunate "accidents". Wendy Dyble, aSheetlandIslandswoman who teaches children up to age seven, made it clear to her fellow friends that she was not "barking mad". They obviously believed her, supporting her idea by 16 votes to 13, with a total of 63 abstentions . He said big dogs could help round up children, keep them in line, lick up the milk they spill on the floor and provide the extra eyes that a teacher needs to keep order. "A big dog would also be helpful for breaking up fights and look for lost property, like gym shoes or dolls, " Dyble said at the conference. "The dog will also be useful in sniffing out smells that children do not own up to," she added. "It would be nice for the teacher not to have to go round sniffing each child to find the culprit ." The idea was greeted by the Dog Defense League but less so by bigger teaching unions. A spokesman for Education Secretary David Blunkett, who is blind, said his guide dog was always popular with pupils when he visited schools. The Professional Association of Teachers, with around 35,000 members, is the smallest teaching union in Britain. It has an honour for occasional strange ideas. Earlier this week, its annual conference here suggested stopping exams because they lead to stress and introducing selection at the age of 12 based on physical coordination and manual skill in the use of hand. What Dyble said at the conference_.
gained some support from the members frightened everyone at the conference interested everyone at the conference caused some trouble to trained dogs