Tearaway children in Birmingham and the Black Country are to be tamed by Government "supernannies", Tony Blair announced.
Councils are to receive a share of #4 million to employ parenting experts, who will help families where children are involved in anti-social behaviour.
The scheme is the Government's latest attempt to tackle youth crime and teenage gangs. Birmingham, Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell, Stoke and Coventry are taking part.
Mr Blair made the announcement as he hosted a summit on tackling anti-social behaviour in 10 Downing Street. John Reid, the Home Secretary, said parents would benefit from the help provided by professional experts.
They will run compulsory parenting classes for parents of persistent offenders, or offer personal advice on how to bring up children on a one-to-one basis.
The Police and Justice Act, already passed by Parliament, gives councils the power to force parents of anti-social children to attend lessons on how to raise a child. The Government also released the results of an opinion poll which found half of West Midland residents thought "better parenting" would reduce crime – and eight out of ten believed parents should be forced to accept help if their children misbehaved.
Mr Blair said it was right for the Government to intervene when parents failed to bring up their children properly.
He said: "The nanny state argument applied to this is just rubbish. No-one’s talking about interfering in a normal family life. But life isn’t normal if you’ve got 12-year-olds out every night drinking and creating a nuisance on the street with their parents either not knowing or not caring.
"In these cases, a bit of nannying with sticks and carrots is what the local community needs."
Home Secretary John Reid defended the compulsory classes, saying such measures could "change lives" as well as save thousands pounds in the future.
Mr Reid said the alternative would be to do nothing about such families, with a future cost to society including thousands of pounds in court and social care fees.
He said: "Getting the problem earlier and a combination of being robust on those parents who will not face up to their responsibilities and helping those who want to through these parenting classes is one of the elements – it is only one of the elements of tackling this."
But Conservatives accused the Government of trying to raise other people's children for them.
David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: "We have seen countless anti-social behaviour initiatives announced before only to fail to make it beyond the headline."
Liberal Democrats said the plans could "stigmatise" families in deprived areas.
Birmingham MP John Hemming (Lib Dem Yardley) added: "Generally speaking, the more the state gets involved in raising a child, the worse it is for the child."
The Government’s anti-social behaviour tsar, Louise Casey, said parents would be made to attend the courses if they did not agree voluntarily.
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