Poll: Bullying linked to bad parenting

The Yomiuri Shimbun
November 19, 2006
Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20061119TDY01005.htm

Sixty-five percent of people believe that bullying at school, which is suspected to have driven some children to commit suicide, is caused by parents failing to teach their children social rules, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey.

Asked what major factors are believed to cause bullying at school, the highest ratio of respondents placed blame on parents from among eight choices.

Among the other choices, 55 percent thought an increasing number of children lack empathy for others. This was followed by 52 percent of respondents who said parents are not aware of the sufferings of their children.

The results indicate many respondents consider that education at home does matter.

Respondents who cited insufficient capabilities of teachers stood at 48 percent, while 45 percent blamed schools for evading their responsibilities by concealing bullying cases.

The nationwide survey was conducted on Nov. 11 and 12 through face-to-face interviews with 3,000 eligible voters randomly sampled, of whom 1,757, or 58.6 percent, responded.

Also in the survey, 59 percent of respondents gave positive responses to relief measures announced by the Education, Science and Technology Ministry following the discovery that a number of high schools failed to teach compulsory subjects.

But 36 percent of respondents expressed negative views, saying the measures were unsatisfactory. The relief measures allow students to take fewer hours of make-up classes, up to 70 hours, than initially expected.

(Nov. 19, 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)