Survey: Half of school-related websites contain insults, threats against classmates

The Asahi Shimbun
April 16, 2008
Source: http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200804160181.html

About half of 38,000 Internet message boards and websites created by students to discuss school life contain derogatory and abusive terms to attack classmates, according to an education ministry survey.

The insults are generally posted anonymously and refer to the target's personality or physical appearance. Some of the messages are of a sexual nature, while others involve intimidation and even death threats, the survey showed Tuesday.

The results suggest that bullies often use these sites for insidious attacks.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology found 38,260 "unofficial" message boards and websites between January and March this year.

The sites were created mainly by junior and senior high school students but also included those on elementary schools.

An official of the ministry's Youth Division said it is considering using filters and other methods to protect children from harmful content on the websites.

"Parents and school officials should also check these message boards and websites to assess the current situation (of students' activities on Internet),'' the official said.

Nearly 90 percent of the sites were created as message and discussion boards using "2 Channel'' and other popular websites, the survey said.

Many of these sites created by students featured banner links considered inappropriate for minors.

The ministry, in cooperation with local nonprofit organizations, also conducted a closer study on the contents of 2,000 sites set up by students in Gunma, Hyogo and Shizuoka prefectures.

The survey showed that students used 32 derogatory and abusive terms, including "creepy,'' "icky'' and "shorty," to describe classmates on about 1,000 sites.

Twelve obscene words, including vulgarities for genitals, were found on 37 percent of the 2,000 sites, while 20 violent and intimidating expressions, including "you die'' or ''I will kill you,'' were posted on 27 percent of the sites.

Of the 1,522 junior and senior high school students in the prefectures who responded to the survey, 33 percent said they know about such forums and websites, 23 percent have accessed to them, and 3 percent have actually posted messages.

Many students said they have seen rumors and slanderous messages about their classmates on these websites, while others said they check the sites for information about general school activities, including club functions.

Eight percent said they have seen derogatory messages against themselves and were devastated. But only half of them consulted friends, teachers or family members, showing that the anonymity of the Internet makes it difficult for students to find a way to end the attacks, ministry officials said.(IHT/Asahi: April 16, 2008)

Web sites hotbeds of bullying / Half of student Internet bulletin boards contain abusive messages

The Yomiuri Shimbun
April 16, 2008
Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080416TDY02304.htm

About half of informal Internet school bulletin boards contain abusive messages to other students, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the Education, Science and Technology Ministry. The survey also found that 27 percent of the Web sites contained offensive, especially abusive or threatening messages such as "drop dead."

The ministry will inform teachers and students' parents of the survey results on the so-called gakko ura sites, some of which have become as hotbeds of bullying. It will encourage schools to improve their efforts to educate students on how to use Web sites appropriately.

Different from official Web sites run by school administrations, these sites are unofficial bulletin boards independently operated by students and graduates.

The ministry's survey, conducted between January and March, confirmed a total of 38,260 such sites in all 47 prefectures.

Among these sites, the ministry randomly chose about 2,000 bulletin boards of middle and high schools in Gunma, Shizuoka and Hyogo prefectures to get an idea of the content of messages posted on the sites.

The ministry found half of the 2,000 sites contained negative comments directed at individual students, such as referring to them as "disgusting" and claiming they were "getting on my nerves."

Thirty-seven percent of the Web sites contained obscene language, while offensive, strongly abusive or threatening statements, such as "drop dead," "get lost" or "I'll kill her/him," were posted on 27 percent of the sites.

The ministry also conducted a questionnaire on about 2,400 middle and high school students in the three prefectures.

Of those, 1,522 responded with 33 percent of the students saying they are aware of the sites, while 23 percent said they had visited such sites. However, only 3 percent said they had actually posted messages on the sites.

Asked why they visited the sites, 77 percent said they did so to kill time, while 14 percent said they used the sites to obtain information about their friends. Twelve percent said they visited the sites to exchange information on school life.

(Apr. 16, 2008)