I WRITE in response to your article "Would our teachers take to the front line in a battle?'' I must admit I am somewhat amazed at your unequivocal criticism of the teaching profession. The issue of whether or not the Army should be allowed to visit schools is probably not the major concern of most classroom teachers. I do feel, however, that your suggestion that the discussion of the issue at the NUT conference indicates that teachers are an "arm of every terrorist group that wishes to do us harm'' is surely a step too far.

I would suggest that journalists, with their propensity for the leaking of sensitive information and tendency to "exaggerate'' the truth are far more likely to jeopardise the security of our nation than teachers. Was it not a journalist who recently exposed Prince Harry's tour of duty in Afghanistan, thereby endangering the lives of his men in his unit? You see, it is easy to criticise somebody else's profession, especially when you are armed only with ignorance.

What it is not so easy to do is to step up and take, along with parents, responsibility for the safety and development of our young people. You seem to suggest that a good teacher must be "patriotic''. However, I would suggest that, more importantly, a good teacher should help and motivate young people to achieve their potential. It would be encouraging to think that we had support from the journalistic profession to do this.

"If the enemy tanks did role down the high street'', I suspect that you would be holed up in an underground bunker helpfully writing an article on the subject, or maybe attending a conference with plenty of complimentary drinks and goodies from your advertisers.

MRS N EGAN, Botley.