Schools rapped over student deaths

The Yomiuri Shimbun
November 14, 2006
Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20061114TDY03005.htm

Leading education officials have criticized the way teachers at two middle schools responded to reports that students were being bullied following the presumed suicides of two students in separate incidents in Honjo, Saitama Prefecture, and Tondabayashi, Osaka Prefecture, on Sunday.

A 14-year-old student of Honjo-Higashi Middle School in Honjo--who was found hanging from the ceiling of a room at his home--had complained to a school counselor that another student had been demanding money from him. While at Tondabayashi Dai-ichi Middle School, teachers had realized that the female student, who is also thought to have taken her own life, had also been bullied.

According to the Honjo Board of Education, the school the boy attended questioned its students about bullying three times a year to help it deal with the problem.

On a questionnaire completed on Nov. 6, the male student answered "no" to a question that asked if he had been bullied. However, later the same day the third-year student told a school counselor dispatched by the Saitama Prefecture Board of Education that another student had been demanding money from him.

It was alleged that a male student in the same grade, but in a different class, had been trying to extort money from him, saying such things as: "Give me back 500 yen," or "The interest is now 20,000 yen," since early this month. There is no indication the student had borrowed money from the student who was demanding repayment.

Another student is also said to have approached the school counselor about the student who was demanding money.

The school has identified the student alleged to have asked for money and he is receiving counselling.

The student who apparently took his own life told his mother Saturday that he had been asked for money. The mother said she had expressed concern and asked her son if he was worried, asking "Are you all right?" He replied: "Yes. I'm discussing this with my teacher."

Takahiko Motegi, chairman of the board of education, said at a press conference Monday that it was well known that bullying could lead to suicide and that the schools had failed to properly deal with the problem.

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Insufficient action taken

OSAKA--Principal Yoshimasa Niimi of Tondabayashi Dai-ichi Middle School, held a midnight press conference Sunday regarding the suicide of a 12-year-old female student, and said that although there had been signs of bullying at the school, the problem had been nipped in the bud.

However, members of the press presented the principal with testimonies from the girl's classmates about her harassment, including being tripped up, made to walk at the edges of corridors due to having her path blocked and having her height ridiculed.

The municipal school principal answered: "I wasn't aware of that. We will investigate." He admitted the school may not have tackled the issue properly.

According to Niimi, his school was informed by the girl's primary school that she was not good at expressing her feelings and was easily bullied.

Students threw volleyballs toward the girl, though she was an unskilled player, and on one occasion, five male students surrounded her and verbally intimidated her, Niimi said, emphasizing that the school had dealt with the incidents.

"Teachers cautioned the students involved and there hasn't been a recurrence. We didn't realize they were [systematically] bullying her," he said.

Meanwhile, the Education, Science and Technology Ministry announced Monday it had received two new anonymous letters threatening bullying-related suicide.

Both letters arrived Sunday. The ministry said it was close to identifying one of the writers from the letter's contents.

(Nov. 14, 2006)

Society must face up to bullying problem

The Yomiuri Shimbun
November 14, 2006
Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20061114TDY03004.htm

Amid the increasing number of bullying-related suicides by schoolchildren, writer Wahei Tatematsu, 58, calls on those being bullied to confide in others about their problem.

The following are excerpts from his statement:

"Events currently occurring in our children's world reflect those of adult society. In this society of income gaps, where the phrase "kachi-gumi, make-gumi" (winners and losers) is enjoying a vogue, adult society's preoccupation with self-preservation is reflected in the minds of children who are bullying others. Surely there are no children who think bullying is the right thing to do.

"Those being bullied are advised not to choose death. Instead, they should muster their courage and tell others of their suffering. There is nothing more distressing than death, and the burden of suffering need not be shouldered alone. When kept secret, bullying seems formidable. But when examined in the light of day, being bullied will seem absurd.

"Adults, for their part, should--as soon as possible--make it easier for children around those being bullied to speak out against it. If children and parents who voice their opposition are merely subjected to more suffering, they will not speak out at all.

"If, in an effort to protect themselves, schools continue to prevent cases of bullying from being made public, bullied students will not tell others they are being victimized.

"In order to prevent schools from continuing to take this stance, the boards of education and the Education, Science and Technology Ministry must immediately make it easier for schools to make public cases of bullying.

"Given the ongoing nature of the tragedy, now is the time for society as a whole to promote such a movement."

(Nov. 14, 2006)