Suicidal boy's mom stresses need for quick response to bullying by schools

The Mainichi Shimbun
November 16, 2006
Source: http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20061116p2a00m0na034000c.html

The suicide of a 12-year-old girl, who took her own life after tearfully telling her parents she had been called "shorty," has prompted the mother of a boy who experienced similar problems to speak out on the need for schools to promptly address bullying.

The 43-year-old Tokyo resident said her son had talked numerous times about taking his life. But she said understanding from those around him had helped him overcome the problem.

As a child, the woman's son was diagnosed with an illness causing a deficiency in growth hormones, which hindered his growth. At the time he entered elementary school, he was only 95 centimeters tall, about the height of an average 3-year-old.'

The boy's mother first realized that her son was being bullied soon after he started school, when an older student told her about the treatment her son was receiving, such as having schoolbags stacked on his head and being called names.

The bullying worsened when her son became a sixth-year elementary school student. His height then was 115 centimeters, about 30 centimeters shorter than the average sixth-year student. From that autumn, the woman noticed money disappearing from her purse. At first it was just a few 10 yen coins, then hundreds, and later, amounts in the thousands of yen. At first the woman thought she had dropped the money.

On New Years' Day, the boy told his mother that he wanted to die, but refused to tell her why. Then in February, 100,000 yen disappeared from her bag. The woman searched for her son and found him in an electronics store, handing out 10,000-yen notes to classmates who had extorted the money from him.

The woman said one of the reasons her son didn't commit suicide was the school's swift response. The same day, the principal called in the students involved and their parents, and had a thorough talk with each family.

The boy, now 15 years old and a third-year high school student, plans to become a care worker for the elderly. The woman decided to share her son's experience after talking with her family about the report of the 12-year-old girl who committed suicide.

"It's common for children to tease others based on their appearance. I don't think that type of bullying will disappear. But when it happens, I want the adults around them to tell them, 'You mustn't say that kind of thing,'" the woman said. "Something schools definitely must not say when people approach them about bullying is, 'Let's see how things go for a while.'" (Mainichi)

November 16, 2006