Child bullying attacks fall in 2007 but number of perpetrators still high

The Mainichi Shimbun
February 21, 2008
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080221p2a00m0na032000c.html

The number of bullying-related incidents by students, including attacks in which victims were injured or blackmailed, fell to 201 last year, marking the first decline in five years, a National Police Agency (NPA) report has shown.

The number was 13.7 percent lower than the previous year's figure. In spite of the decline, however, the number of students who were apprehended or referred to authorities dropped only 0.7 percent from the year before, standing at 457 -- an indication that the problem remains serious.

A total of 195 of the incidents were caused by the children responsible for the bullying, but there were six incidents in which bullied students were responsible. Twenty-six (5.7 percent) of the children who were apprehended or referred to authorities were elementary school students, 349 (76.4 percent) were junior high school students and 82 (17.9 percent) were high school students, highlighting the large number of junior high school attacks.

By motive, the biggest reason for bullying, accounting for 43.3 percent of the incidents, was that the victims were "weak or passive." Next were that the victims were "acting goody-goody or cocky" (12.9 percent), "often told lies" (9.2 percent) or were "slow" (5.9 percent). The figures indicate that children who don't resist are being targeted.

In 61.7 percent of the cases, the victims approached their parents, 28.6 percent approached teachers and 21.4 percent approached police. Fifteen percent of victims said they didn't tell anybody.

"When victims can't talk out, the bullying also becomes serious. We want to call for people to use consultation services, starting with the police," an NPA official said.

（Mainichi Japan） February 21, 2008