A Sicilian teacher faces a suspended jail sentence for punishing a school bully by making him write "I am moronic" over and over in his exercise book.
Prosecutors recommended that the 56-year-old female teacher be given a suspended two-month term in the case, which was reported on Friday by a Sicilian daily.
The teacher took action after a 12-year-old pupil blocked another boy from entering the male toilets and called him gay.
She made him write out "I am moronic" - a phrase which the child misspelt - 100 times in his exercise book.
The child's parents were furious at the incident and reported the teacher to the police.
Teachers' unions said the parents had overreacted and that decisive action needed to be taken against a rise in bullying in Italian schools.
A recent survey found that eight out of ten Italian schoolkids had direct or indirect experience of bullying.
In April, Italy was shocked by the case of a teenager who committed suicide after being subjected to gay taunts.
